James Haskell defends quality of Six Nations

James Haskell has hit back at critics who accused this year's Six Nations of being dull, unexciting and lacking in quality.
The flanker, who played a major role in helping England win a first Grand Slam in 13 years, said: “Some people have criticised the lack of exciting and entertaining games but you have to remember that international teams are so evenly matched now.
“Defences are so well organised you are not always going to get lots of tries and the flowing rugby that everybody wants to see. Personally I thought it was a very good standard of rugby with some very good games, and the Northern Hemisphere can be proud of that.
“It was a great Six Nations as well as a very intense one. We don't have days off any more. It was so important we got back that winning mentality after what happened in the World Cup.
“People don't realise how much hard work went into preparing for that World Cup. We had put our heart and soul into training for it but then results were not good enough and it was a massive frustration and disappointment for everyone concerned.
“But Eddie gave everyone a clean slate, and we so wanted to put things right and get off to a good start. We set ourselves the milestones of winning the Calcutta Cup, then Triple Crown, then the Six Nations and finally Grand Slam.
“It's important to relish and enjoy the Grand Slam especially as a player because they don't come along too often and you don't know how long you will be playing. I want to hang onto this success for as long as possible but as a team Eddie has told us we haven't really started and that we must not get carried away with things.”
Haskell is now hoping he can retain his place in the international set-up by having a successful end-of-season run-in with Wasps.
Having been written off by many following the World Cup campaign, the 30-year-old is now a firm favourite to jump on the plane to Australia in June. But he insisted: “Winning a Grand Slam is special but it gets tougher from now on. Australia are at a different level again and we will need to step up to that level.”
GARY FITZGERALD