“I don’t want to wait until the Six Nations to be picked again” – Luke Wallace

Luke Wallace has been playing second fiddle to England captain Chris Robshaw and, as a result, has seen his playing time with Harlequins reduced to nothing, until the last couple of weeks.
The young flanker started the last two LV Cup games and he revealed he is going all out in the coming weeks to make sure he doesn’t wait another three months to be picked again.
He told The Rugby Paper: “ I didn’t play as much as I would have liked to for the first part of the season so my main focus has been leading to November and the International break.
“I knew I would get a good run of games so I made sure I’m in the best possible shape to be ready.
“I’ve got four games and I want to make sure I don’t have to wait until the Six Nations to get picked again.”
The 22-year-old is one of the brightest prospect at openside in the English game and, according to Conor O’Shea, he will be challenging Robshaw for a start for both Harlequins and England sooner rather than later.
The Premiership Champions used the same four players in the back row (Robshaw, Maurie Fa’asavalu, Nick Easter and Tom Guest) but Wallace reckons there is a need for an out-and-out openside in a team thriving on running and offloading.
He said: “Regarding the way we want to play our game, I think it’s helpful to have a specialist openside on the pitch.
“These four guys are outstanding players and they each bring something different into the back row.
“They complement each other quite well to be honest but I’ve got two more weeks while Chris is away to show what I can bring to the equation.
“Don’t get me wrong, Chris is not the England captain by chance. He is an outstanding player and his work rate around the park is great.
“But I’m more of a specialist openside so I’ve got to show for the next three weeks that our ball stays fast in attack and I can slow the opposition down when they’ve got the ball.”