Gloucester back rower Luke Narraway will play a waiting game to see if his first 80 minutes for a month has put him in the frame for an England start against Ireland on Saturday.

He came off the bench to win his sixth cap in the 23-15 defeat against Wales in the Six Nations Championship clash at the Millennium Stadium nine days ago.

But the 25-year-old was back on club duty in the Cherry and Whites' 14-9 defeat at Harlequins on Saturday before he rejoined the national squad yesterday. Narraway said: "I will go down to England and hope for selection. I am just happy to be back playing rugby.

"I haven't played for a few weeks. It was tough out there for me. If I'm with Gloucester or in Ireland, it will be a big week for me.

"Selection is up to Martin Johnson. All I can do is try my hardest as I did today.

"It was good to get 80 minutes underneath my belt. Hopefully I have done enough to be in the matchday 22 – or even the starting XV. We will see on Tuesday."

Narraway hopes England continue to improve when they take on the unbeaten Irish at Croke Park.

He added: "It was a good performance by England last time out but we are not quite there yet.

"It is going to be equally hard, if not harder, in Croke Park. We have to make sure we did what we did against Wales and even go up a notch.

"We had chances to win against Wales. It will be an interesting environment in Croke Park.

"This game is massive and we need to bounce back and get a win to get our Six Nations Championship back on track."

Meanwhile, Gloucester returned top of the Guinness Premiership thanks to collecting losing bonus point at Quins after Sale led the English elite for 24 hours following their 32-13 victory over basement side Bristol.

The visitors led 9-7 before wing Tom Williams dived over with four minutes left to snatch victory.

Narraway believed the Cherry and Whites deserved the bonus point at least after working hard in defence against a side that had lost only once this season in the English elite.

"There were 22 disappointed players out there because a lot of effort went into that game," he added.

"We spent a large amount of time without the ball and to hold a team that is regarded as one of the most attacking threats to two tries is something to be proud of.

"But if we look at the bigger picture – that could have been or should have been four points for us."