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Armitage keen to be England regular
Dec 1 2008
England may have been taught "brutal lessons" by the southern hemisphere superpowers but they also discovered something positive this autumn - that Delon Armitage has a future in Test rugby.
The London Irish full-back was propelled from outside England's senior squad - he was not included in the top 64 players selected by Martin Johnson in July - to start all four Investec Challenge Test matches.
"What have I have learned? That I can compete at the top level whereas I had doubts before," said Armitage, who made an electric Test debut against the Pacific Islanders and was then an assured presence at full-back despite England's struggles against Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
"I am happy Martin Johnson and Brian Smith gave me a chance to put on an England shirt - and I want to be the England number 15 for some time.
"They told me to go out and play the way that got me into the team in the first place, and that is what I tried to do.
"But for me, getting there is not enough. I want to progress my game and get better and better.
"Now we have this break before the Six Nations I can go back to the club and work on all the things I need to in order to achieve that.
"We want to go into the Six Nations to win it. We want to be a force at Twickenham."
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