Haskell back on track after temporary derailment
BAGSHOT (Reuters) - James Haskell was celebrating his recall to the England starting team on Tuesday after a year that delivered a sharp reminder that international rugby is no respecter of reputation.
The mighty flanker will start against South Africa on Saturday in place of Tom Croft in the only change from the team beaten 28-14 by Australia last week. He had been on the bench for the first two tests of the Martin Johnson era.
That "de-selection" was an experience Haskell had not been used to during a career that followed a steep upward curve from the moment he made his Wasps debut as an 18-year-old.
An England regular at all the various age-group levels, he also progressed smoothly through the grooming grounds of Sevens and Saxons.
He made his senior debut in the 2007 Six Nations and helped Wasps win the Heineken Cup, though his efforts were not enough to force him into the final World Cup squad.
In this year's Six Nations he started the first three matches before injury pegged him back but he roared back in the summer as one of the few players to impress in the double-defeat tour of New Zealand.
By then there was talk of the 23-year-old as possible England captaincy material and the rugby world appeared there for the taking.
However, when the domestic season got underway in September Haskell, along with most of his Wasps team mates, was not at the races. It was no real surprise, even to him, when he was named only as a replacement against the Pacific Islanders. Continued...
Man walks into his own funeral.