Ellis: It's good to be back

By Tony Curtis  

Ellis: It's good to be back

Related links

Teams

Players

Harry Ellis is hoping to cement his place as England's No.1 scrum-half after an impressive return to international rugby in the 42-20 victory over Scotland.

Injury and a loss of form since last season's RBS Six Nations had seen the Leicester Tigers No.9 fall out of the international reckoning, however Ellis has now moved above Shaun Perry and Peter Richards in the pecking order after a quality display at Twickenham.

And the 24-year-old Ellis now wants to build on that performance. He said: "There is always pressure. There are some outstanding scrum-halves around the country.

"I had a slow start to the season and I was injured but it is nice to be back.

"It took us a bit of time to get going but the forwards played outstandingly well and delivered some good quick ball, which was a scrum-half's dream.

"Sometimes there is no space, and other times there is quite a lot. I am sure in other games, it will be really tight around the breakdown.

"Hopefully, I can build on this. I've worked on everything in my game, and I try to be as professional as possible."

Ellis admits the influence of new coach Brian Ashton has had a positive affect on his game.

He said: "The way Brian has coached us is to play with our heads up and play what we see. He has given us that freedom, which has been brilliant.

"I like to play what I see, and it has shown when we get the opportunities we can score tries.

"It is just the start. We've won one game, and we are striving to be as professional as possible and have more success in the future."

(-25) England 10/11 H'cap draw 16/1 (+25) Italy 10/11 - Click here for more odds with Sky Bet