Tindall: England players need to show hunger against Italy

Mike Tindall's laid-back character was always going to ensure he did not stress too much about his omission from England's Elite Player Squad last summer.

But having been restored to the number 13 shirt for Saturday's Six Nations Championship opener against Italy at Twickenham, the Gloucester centre is as passionate and determined as anyone to help England back to the top of the world.

Tindall last played for England when they crashed to a heavy defeat against New Zealand in Christchurch eight months ago.

He has since had to watch humbling home defeats against Australia, South Africa and New Zealand lead to England's slide to sixth in the world rankings, while his own form for the Guinness Premiership table-toppers has been authoritative and impressive.

And as he prepares to win his 57th cap, the 30-year-old is desperate to help England restore the aura they have lost since their surprise appearance in a second successive World Cup final 16 months ago.

"I know it's a hard time for English rugby at the moment, but in some ways that means it's a chance for the players to be part of that team that turns it around," said the Gloucester captain.

"That should be a motivation for every player in the 22. It's definitely a motivation for me to prove wrong the people who have written us off.

"We've had a tough time of it and we're not in a situation you would expect English rugby to be in, so we have got to get back up there – and that's the challenge to the players. It's a challenge you should be able to get up for easily."

Tindall remembers a time – notably in 2003, as the form team in the world, and again the following year as world champions – when England went into Six Nations opening weekend as the team the rest were desperate to beat.

But he has seen the value of their scalp diminish over the past few years and would like nothing more than to put that right between now and their final match, against Scotland at Twickenham, on March 21.

"It's not going to be easy and no one is underestimating the size of the task," said Tindall.

"But we've got nothing to lose. We've got to go and beat teams so they say "the one team we've got to beat in the Six Nations is England", because it's not that way anymore.

"We've got to understand that we have got to go and get teams, we've got to be hungrier than other teams. We are not on the top of the pile so we have to get back up there. It's a massive challenge for us.

"We need complete humility and complete respect for other teams. We shouldn't be thinking that we're the best around at the moment, because we haven't got the record to prove it. But we should have the hunger to go and get it back, both as individuals and as a team."

England manager Martin Johnson has praised Tindall for the way he responded to being left out of the initial 32-man squad, and the World Cup winner acknowledged that he will "always try to deal with personal setbacks in a positive way".

But now his brief is to bring the best out of an England back division understandably lacking confidence after their autumn travails.

"You never like to see England lose. Even if you are not involved, you still want to see them win," said Tindall.

"It was very hard for the players in the autumn. It was a new coaching set-up and a new player set-up in terms of the structure of how players were in and out of the squad.

"But we're running out of time to keep saying it's a new set-up and it's down to us to make sure we get that right."

England team to play Italy at Twickenham on Saturday (3pm): D Armitage (London Irish); P Sackey (Wasps), M Tindall (Gloucester), R Flutey (Wasps), M Cueto (Sale); A Goode (Brive), D Care (Harlequins); A Sheridan (Sale), L Mears (Bath), P Vickery (Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt) N Kennedy (London Irish), J Haskell (Wasps), S Armitage (London Irish), N Easter (Harlequins). Reps: D Hartley (Northampton), J White (Leicester), T Croft (Leicester), J Worsley (Wasps), B Foden (Northampton), S Geraghty (London Irish), M Tait (Sale).

Italy: A Masi; K Robertson, G Canale, G Garcia, Mirco Bergamasco; A Marcato, Mauro Bergamasco; F Ongaro, S Perugini, M Castrogiovanni, S Dellape, M Bortolami, J Sole, A Zanni, S Parisse. Reps: C Festuccia, C Nieto, T Reato, J-F Montauriol, G Toniolatti, L McLean, M Pratichetti.