Jack Nowell out to repay the faith after mixed England debut

Nowell swiftly followed his butterfingers – though, in his defence, his view had been obscured by Joe Launchbury – by conceding a penalty when England were attacking. These are the sort of setbacks that could destroy a young man’s confidence.

But with precious maturity the 20-year-old wing prospect put those calamities behind him to play for England as he always does for Exeter.

So Stuart Lancaster had no hesitation in naming an unchanged England team to face Scotland tomorrow, his vote of confidence in all the players who would have won in Paris but for the ill-timed errors that took the game away from them.

“If I’d let those mistakes haunt me for the whole game, I would have been looking back on my first cap regretting that I hadn’t taken my chance,” said Nowell.

“But the coaches told me they were happy with how I then played. So I cancelled out what had gone before, and in the end the best thing was to think it hadn’t really happened even if I came off the pitch thinking about nothing else. You do tend to remember the lower points rather than the highs.

“The coaches actually commended me for my attitude, that I didn’t let it get to me. So I was reassured when it came to this week’s selection.

“But there is such an exceptional group here anyone could be picked and you never know what decisions will be taken.”

Jack Nowell out to repay the faith after mixed England debut