Why Charlie Sharples may be on fast-track for recall

England discard Charlie Sharples has put the pain of rejection behind him and wants to prove the selectors wrong by starring for Gloucester next season.
The popular wing was on cloud nine last November after notching a try-double in his third England outing against Fiji at Twickenham.
But one missed tackle in the defeat against Australia a week later spelt curtains for the 23-year-old, who was jettisoned from the side and failed to resurface.
Marland Yarde, Christian Wade and club-mate Jonny May took opportunities to shine during England's summer tour of Argentina, leaving Sharples in the cold.
But the Hong Kong-born flyer refuses to be written off and, with a full summer of rest and recuperation behind him, is ready to battle for an England place.
He told The Rugby Paper: “I didn't get massive feedback from England after the autumn, it just came down to selection at the time.
“They changed things after the Australia game, with Mike Brown coming in on the left wing to give them an additional option with the left boot. He played really well and when it came to the Six Nations I lost my EPS place.
“Although I felt I was playing well, you don't always get the rub of the green and I fell by the wayside a little bit. It was obviously disappointing not to be picked for any tours but you have to take the positives out of every situation you face.
“The positive was I managed to get a full rest. It's probably the longest I've had off in professional rugby so I was able to make the most of it, with a good balance between having a break and getting in great training.
“I had an opportunity to get in the best shape possible and, hopefully, I'm getting to the stage now where I'm fitter, faster and stronger than ever.
“There are a lot of guys in the same boat, everyone wants to play for England right now and there's an awful lot of competition out there. There are guys who went away and did well on that summer tour so it's going to be even tougher.
“But my main focus is to hit the ground running and play well for Gloucester. I've put England to the back of my mind for now and I'm more concerned about doing well here and doing the club that's been good to me proud.
“If you do that and your form is good, then hopefully you will get picked by England.”
Sharples hopes the shock arrival at Kingsholm of sprint coach Marlon Devonish will help fast-track not only his own international ambitions, but those of his colleagues who are desperate to put some serious silverware in the Gloucester trophy cabinet.
Devonish, a 100-metre Olympic relay gold-medallist in 2004, has already made a big impression on Sharples, who is confident Gloucester can again challenge for honours He said: “It was a nice surprise seeing Marlon. I rocked up for training one Monday, saw ‘speed' was on the schedule and thought, ‘hang on, I recognise that guy!'
“It's pretty exciting having an Olympic gold medallist coaching us and he knows what he's talking about, so hopefully we'll pick up a lot of knowledge from him.
“We've had three sessions with Marlon and he's focused on some key things in terms of sprinting techniques and ankle stiffness… things that translate into rugby.
“Sprinters like Marlon are fine-tuned and very ‘in-touch' with their bodies, so in doing certain drills you can also become more aware of what your body's doing.
“It's something our conditioners wanted us to improve on and it's great having Marlon around.”
Gloucester finished fifth last season, five points adrift of the play-off zone, and Sharples insists there is much more to come this time around.
He added: “We've got a lot to be excited about going into the new season.
“We did better than many people expected last season but we were disappointed and feel we could have done better.
“We beat all the top four teams but didn't do so well going away to teams at the lower end of the table, so if we can improve that we can certainly make the top four.
“It's about being mentally on the ball all season and being on our game every single week.”
NEALE HARVEY