'Nice spa, good food' - Emmanuel Iyogun's Six Nations wasn't all bad

Northampton Saints loose-head Emmanuel Iyogun has vowed to keep battering down the door to force his way into the England side after suffering the frustration of spending the whole of the Six Nations in camp without winning a cap.

England A international Iyogun, 25, was a travelling reserve but has had to be patient with Ellis Genge and Bevan Rodd ahead of him in the pecking order. However, he still views the experience as a positive one, on many levels.

Madrid-born Iyogun has played twice for England’s A team this season against the All Blacks XV and Spain, which is a fair indication he isn’t too far out of Steve Borthwick’s plans as there is a clear pathway between the teams.

“I think if I’m being blunt, it shows that I’m obviously not there yet. So, I need to keep battering the door down. There’s obviously disappointment. You go into a campaign wanting to play,” said Iyogun.

“But I describe it as unique because although I didn’t play. I’d say I got some other benefits out of it in terms of training and learning. And then just being in a campaign and learning about how that runs to you.

“It was really intense training sessions, so I’ve essentially had a mini pre-season. So, I feel in really good shape and from that point of view. I’m pretty ready to help this team in the games that we’ve got left.

“You want to play with the best players, and you want to compete against the best players. I want to produce rugby that’s the best that I can. It was pretty cool as a setup. A very nice spa. Good food. But we work pretty hard for it to be honest, it’s not all luxury. It’s nice to be back home also.

“I think I’m only better for the experience, just from, like, understanding how great players operate and what I need to do to maximise my game.

“And I think when you go into environments like that, you sort of think that you need a massive change, but actually it’s just about doing the fundamentals slightly better across the board. I think that was my biggest takeaway from going to camp.”