England's Jonny May thrilled to be firing ahead of World Cup
Sunday 6 September 2015 13:20, UK
Jonny May is delighted to get his England career back on track after a turbulent international career.
May's efforts in an England shirt looked numbered after last summer's tour to New Zealand and, having been recalled for the autumn, he was ditched again during the Six Nations only to re-emerge now as the team's main strike weapon.
The 25-year-old scored twice in Saturday's 21-13 victory over Ireland at Twickenham and troubled the Six Nations champions throughout, attracting compliments from head coach Stuart Lancaster for showing "real attacking intent".
Anthony Watson's finish for the second score has also pushed his claim for one of the two wing spots for the World Cup opener against Fiji on September 18 and on Saturday's evidence, the west country pair - who also excelled against France at Twickenham last month - will edge Jack Nowell in the race for selection.
"I feel I've done all I can do. I'm happy with the way I'm playing at the moment and I'm still learning and improving," May said.
"These warm-up matches have given me an opportunity to put things right after getting dropped in the Six Nations and to show the improvements I've made and confidence I've gained.
"I knew things hadn't gone my way, I knew I was better than that, but it's international rugby and one bad game and you can be out. I had to go back and work as hard as I could and it's given me a hunger to get in there.
"I'm been very hard on myself, scrutinising and reflecting to see what I can improve on. That's a relentless desire to get better regardless of the circumstances. I'm as keen to improve next week as I would be if I'd had a bad game.
"It would be so exciting to start in the World Cup. I can't wait for the tournament to start and the buzz around the country."
England will open the home World Cup armed with seven successive victories at Twickenham including a confidence-enhancing rout of below-par Ireland, who at least know they do not need to peak until their Pool D decider against France on October 11.
In contrast, Lancaster's men must hit the ground running with Wales and Australia looming after Fiji and, despite failing to reflect their mastery of the Irish on the scoreboard, they were able to move on from their dire 25-20 defeat in Paris a fortnight ago.
"It was crucial to get the win. We came out with all guns blazing, with real intent, and that gave the crowd something to really get behind," May added.
"We haven't treated these matches like warm-up games - every one has felt like a one-off international. If we were going into the World Cup on the back of two losses, it wouldn't be a good place to be.
"There's a handful of great teams in the world and any one can beat any team on their day. We're in that top group and it will come down to what happens on the day."
