Wednesday 14 February 2018 17:08, UK
Mako Vunipola says his performances have improved thanks to an increasing confidence in his own ability.
The prop started all three Tests for the British and Irish Lions on their drawn tour of New Zealand last year, as well as England's first two Six Nations matches.
Joe Marler, who is available for England again after missing the Six Nations victories over Italy and Wales through suspension, says he believes his fellow loosehead has taken his game to a new level.
Vunipola joked: "It's very flattering from Joe, he's being way too kind. I'm going to watch my back!
"It's great to have Joe back. More than anything he's a great character to have round camp."
When asked for the reason behind his recent improvement, Vunipola replied: "More than anything it is confidence, going out there and playing with team-mates I've played with for a while now.
"Also having that confidence in my own ability that I can hold my own. So I just go out there and play my normal game."
The Six Nations takes a break this weekend following the first two rounds, and England have been using their fallow week to train against Georgia.
Vunipola was part of the England pack that took on their Georgian counterparts in some scrum practice, and he was positive about the experience.
He said: "It was different, having never scrummaged against Georgia before.
"We're very lucky the Georgians agreed to come over and today we had a good hit out. We had a few lessons to learn but overall we got what we needed.
"It was a case of both teams needing to get what they wanted out of it and we're very pleased with how the sessions went."
