England have yet to see the best of me, admits Hughes
No8 still getting to grips with international game Jones wants his senior players to be leaders Looking for the latest news from the Lions tour?
Nathan Hughes, the Wasps No 8, admits that he has yet to deliver his very best in an England shirt, but says that he is happy to be on the periphery if it means others can grab centre-stage.
Hughes issued a powerful reminder of his talents in Wasps’ Premiership final defeat by Exeter with his destructive ball-carrying and tackling.
Translating that type of performance – so typical of his first two seasons with his club – on to the international stage has proved a lot harder.
The 25-year-old is partly a victim of his own success, with teams often electing to double or triple mark him, and also suffers in comparison sometimes with the impact of Billy Vunipola. Yet Hughes, who will start against Argentina on Saturday, has won only eight caps and says the learning curve of international rugby is one he is gradually getting to grips with.
“Game by game you learn a lot of new things,” Hughes said. “There is always room for improvement and in this England set-up you always have good competition around you. Competition helps you improve. With the young guys coming
through it keeps pushing us to get better and better. I think there is a lot more to come.
“Once you start standing out with your performances week in, week out then teams will start analysing that. If you can start attracting one, two, three defenders then you can let the pretty boys outside score the tries. In terms of my game, if I can attract three or four defenders then that’s my job done and it allows other boys to do their jobs.”
With the presence of 18 uncapped players, Hughes is a comparative veteran and is among those who have been asked to take on more of a leadership role by England head coach Eddie Jones. “It is more for everybody to take ownership,” Hughes said. “It is a young group overall and we have got a few senior boys who will say their bit but he wants everyone to stand up and be a leader.”
In that regard, Hughes has been sharing a room with teenager Joe Cokanasiga, the London Irish wing and a fellow Fijian. “He is a strong boy,” Hughes said. “When he has ball in hand, like me, it’ll take three or four to bring him down. When he gets the opportunity to go I am sure he will give it his absolute best. You saw that in the Under20s Six Nations, he was carving up [teams]. “He is quite quiet, but we’ll get there. It is his first tour so he is a bit shy. We will see how this week goes, he’s just trying to settle in and once he has he will come out of his shell a bit. We will probably start drinking some kava [a traditional South Pacific drink] in the room – if Eddie allows it!”