Fit-again England star James Haskell determined to face New Zealand

James Haskell is desperate to play for England against New Zealand next weekend after recovering from a mystery virus which saw him rushed to hospital.

Haskell was admitted to London’s Charing Cross Hospital with suspected meningitis and lost five kilos in the space of a week.

Howell, the back-row has now seemingly recovered - he was feeling normal at the start of this week - and is targeting the November 8 date with the world champions in a match being shown live on Sky Sports.

"I would be extremely disappointed if my illness had a factor in whether I am involved or not," Haskell said.

They thought I had meningitis and that was the big concern that they had. That's why they put me in an ambulance.

"We have had day two of the camp and I have missed one session outside. As of Thursday I will be back into the full mix of it. So I don't think that is going to be an issue."

Haskell has come a long way since earlier this month being confined to bed with sore muscles, a cold flannel on his head and his eyes closed, due to them being sensitive to light.

"I've never been that ill in my life," the 29-year-old said. "They thought I had meningitis and that was the big concern that they had. That's why they put me in an ambulance.

"They knew it wasn't bacterial meningitis but they thought it might be the viral version because I had all the symptoms of it."

Haskell was given antivirals and antibiotics then underwent blood tests and a lumber puncture for a virus which proved difficult to diagnose.

"I'm not one of these people who Googles symptoms or looks them up online because it's more dangerous than it's worth really," Haskell added.

"A lot of people around were making a fuss but I actually stayed quite calm. I knew this (England) was coming up, I knew I was in a good place, I had been playing well and I just wanted to keep that momentum going. I did everything the doctors told me to do, I didn't overly panic and I tried to rest.

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"The big thing for me was not eating. I lost a lot of weight from not eating. I normally eat five or six times a day but I was struggling to get one or two meals in. I lost about five kilos in a week - it was just fever and not eating."

Haskell returned to training with England's forwards on Tuesday and is confident of resuming the form which he was in prior to his bout of illness and will be the first to admit it if he is not at his best.

"I didn't try to force my way back too soon - I didn't try to train or do anything else," Haskell added.

"I've had an illness but I'm very good at compartmentalising that and getting rid of it. I'm sure when I'm back in full training mode I will pick the weight up again pretty quickly. I'm still 114kg - it's not like I'm small.

"I know from pretty early on in my career that trying to muddle through, especially at international level, you are going to get caught out pretty quick and I know as a person I don't play particularly well unless I am 100 per cent.

"I need that energy to play the type of game I want to play but I don't foresee it as being an issue."

Watch England’s four autumn internationals live on Sky Sports. World champions New Zealand are the first opponents on November 8 - coverage gets under way on Sky Sports 2 HD at 1.30pm.