England on the right track, says Thompson
England have lost 10 out of 19 Tests during a disappointing reign as world champions, and their RBS 6 Nations success-rate stands at just 50% over the past two seasons, finishing outside the tournament’s top two on each occasion.
However, Thompson, who has started every one of England’s Six Nations games after making his debut against Scotland in 2002, reckons that England are going in the right direction.
“We know the experience in the squad is coming now and everyone is playing for their place in the team,” said the 42 times-capped England hooker.
“Perhaps before, when we lost quite a few players after the World Cup, there wasn’t that strength in depth.
“But in every position now there is someone putting their hand up and saying they want to be in the team, and that’s the way it has got to be.
“We have a lot of players who have been gaining experience over the past couple of years, and now I think it is time we’ve got to actually stand up, put some performances in and really meet the Six Nations challenge.
“I was a player in the team who didn’t have to do anything really - it was there on a plate for me - but all of a sudden, I was one of the senior guys. It was a bit different, but now, I think we are going forward and working towards where we want to be, which is something I think we showed during the autumn internationals.”
England’s autumn form guide reveals emphatic victories over Australia and Samoa, but the major talking point proved their failure to beat world leaders New Zealand after dominating possession and territory.
This is why many people believe England could prove vulnerable during this season’s Six Nations as they to re-establish themselves in European rugby’s blue riband event.
“We were devastated we lost that match,” added Thompson, recalling the 23-19 All Blacks defeat.
In the Welsh camp, where they still feel the pain of their 2003 World Cup exit against England, Mark Jones’ agony runs even deeper.
The RBS 6 Nations champions have played more than 20 Tests since that quarter-final defeat in Brisbane.
But Llanelli Scarlets wing Jones has had other battles to overcome - fighting back from reconstructive surgery on both knees.
On Saturday, he will run out at Twickenham for a first international appearance in more than two years after refusing to accept during the darkest days of a prolonged fitness fight that his career might be finished.
Jones’ resolve did not even snap when, making his comeback from the first knee operation in a club match for Welsh Premiership side Carmarthen Quins, he ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments in the other knee.
“That was the lowest point,” he said.
“I had worked so hard to come back from the first injury, and for that to happen was really cruel.”
Jones will relaunch his Wales career opposite the same England star it threatened to finish against - Northampton’s World Cup wing Ben Cohen - this weekend.
He is just four months down the latest comeback trail, but a blistering solo try during Llanelli’s Heineken Cup victory over Wasps in December confirmed 16 times-capped Jones’ rapid return to top form.
“If someone had said I’d be playing for Wales again within four months I wouldn’t have believed them,” he said.
“My big concern was whether I was going to come back as quickly as before, because playing on the wing that’s the key ingredient. You’ve got to be able to run fast, but all the speed tests are indicating I am doing better than before.
“That try against Wasps was a huge factor. When I went through the gap I’m sure everyone was wondering whether I still had it in me to finish those situations.”
If Wales get their renowned attacking game in motion against England then Jones can expect plenty of chances to run at Cohen and company as they target a first Twickenham victory since 1988.
Jones is confident he can last the distance too, insisting his injury problems are firmly in the past.
“Now, I don’t have a second thought about them, except that they get a bit stiff when the cold weather comes.
“I don’t need to switch the television on to know the forecast any more. I can tell you when the cold weather is coming before the weatherman can!”
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