Mixing it with the All Blacks is fueling ambitions

A penalty try in the dying embers of Saturday’s opening  autumn encounter may have been nothing more than a consolation score in the context of  another England defeat at the hands of New Zealand.

Yet for Rob Webber, it represented another positive testimonial in his ever-expanding portfolio of international appearances.

The 28-year-old Pocklington-born hooker entered the fray at a rain-lashed Twickenham on 74 minutes, at a time when Stuart Lancaster’s side had seen the energy sucked out of them by the stifling All Blacks.

Still, Webber had to make an impact on replacing Dylan Hartley, and he certainly did that with the execution of a successful lineout followed by the application of the required grunt in the scrum to help force the penalty try.

While not necessarily a headline-stealing cameo, it was the kind of quietly efficient contribution Webber knows he has to keep producing if he is fulfil his ambition of playing in next year’s World Cup.

With Hartley and the injured British Lion Tom Youngs traditionally ahead of him in the pecking order, the Yorkshireman appreciates he has to make the most of every opportunity he gets.

“You’ve just got to take your chances when they come,” said Webber, who earned his ninth cap at the weekend.

“Saturday was another one. I felt I made a positive contribution, but the over-riding emotion was the frustration at the defeat.

“I’ll sit down with the coaches and see how I did, and we’ll move onto the next one.