Vital victory shows we've learned a lesson

If we had come a cropper against Scotland after doing so well against France, it would have been a major setback for the development of this team.

We missed two or three more tries, but we would have taken any win at the start of the day if it had guaranteed us second in the Six Nations. Scoring 16 tries in the tournament is also a significant statistic and highlights the potential in the squad

Three wins, given the way the Championship unfolded with two narrow defeats in Wales and Ireland, is a good return, based on what happened in November with the losses to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

It is a big step forward and I have to admit there are feelings of "what could have been" when you analyse the losses to Wales and Ireland and despite the problems with discipline, you can see there were important positives that we took out of those matches. The last two games showed we had a much better idea of how to win and you have to remember a lot of the squad had never played in the Six Nations and it really isn't like any other international tournament.

There is so much rivalry between the countries and this can eradicate a lot of good rugby because of the emotions wrapped up in every game. There is so much at stake in terms of pride; bragging rights or whatever you call it. You could see how much it meant to the Scots in the way they defended and they were tremendous at scrambling back to make important tackles when we had them under severe pressure.

Personally, it would have been upsetting not to have been given an opportunity in the Six Nations and ideally, I would have loved to have been involved for every minute, but to finish with two wins is extremely satisfying.

Now, I have to keep positive and use the rest of the season with London Wasps to try and keep my name in the mix when it comes to the Lions tour to South Africa this summer.

It's up to me to put myself in the shop window and while we haven't got a huge amount to fight for at Wasps, it's still important to keep plugging away and we are very conscious of being the defending Premiership champions and need to mount the best possible challenge.