Ben Foden has been selected to play on the wing for England against Argentina at Twickenham.
Ben Foden is determined to stake a claim for a regular place in the England starting line-up when he faces Argentina on Saturday.
The Northampton back will earn his 32nd international cap against the Pumas at Twickenham on the left wing in place of Marland Yarde, who has been ruled out with a hip injury.
“I think that any opportunity to put on the shirt and play for England as a professional rugby player is anyone’s dream, especially on the wing.”
Ben Foden
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Foden impressed from the bench in England’s tour of Argentina during the summer after recovering from an ankle injury, and he hopes to cement a place in Stuart Lancaster’s plans with a big performance at headquarters.
“It’s been a while since I put on the white shirt and ran out at Twickenham,” said the 28-year-old, who insists he can make the adjustment to being on the wing having won the majority of his England caps at full-back.
“Obviously doing it in the winger shirt not the full-back shirt is a little bit different but I’ve done it before and hopefully I can justify Stuart’s confidence in me.
“I think that any opportunity to put on the shirt and play for England as a professional rugby player is anyone’s dream, especially on the wing.
“I know a lot about the position. As a full-back you know what you expect from your winger in defence and in attack and hopefully I can use that knowledge.”
Summer tour
Foden was delighted to be a part of the summer tour to Argentina, who he believes have made vast improvements since joining the Rugby Championship with New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
“It was a great tour, it was a development tour so it was a chance for guys to go in and really put down their marker for selection,” he added.
“For me it was the first time I was involved in the squad since my ankle injury so it was good for me to get back out there.
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“I only played on the bench in the Test but I also got on the field, got some more caps under the belt, great for my confidence and gave me that hunger to get back and play for England.
“Playing in the Four Nations competition will always improve a side like Argentina. They’ve got quality players, they were missing a few in the summer tour but they’re a quality side.
“We know they’re going to be very passionate, very dogged and they’re going to make things very difficult for us. They’ll try and ruin our game plan and play off our scraps so we need to stick to our game plan and take our chances when they arise.”
Foden also backed former Saints team-mate Chris Ashton to rediscover his best form for England after he retained his place on the right wing when Christian Wade failed a fitness test on a hamstring injury.
“Ash is a character in himself, he has great belief in his own ability,” said Foden. “He’s the sort of guy who puts himself up there to be shot at so when times aren’t quite going right for him he gets a bit of stick.
“Hopefully we can show some of that chemistry we used to show at Saints and cause defences so many problems in the white shirt as well as the Saints shirt.
“He’s gone away to Sarries he’s starting to spark a bit of form there scoring tries, hopefully he’s a couple of tries away from seeing the old Ash.”
Ben Foden pushing for a regular place in England side
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