Will Evans believes he is in the form of his life, but the Harlequins turnover king has not had any contact from England on a possible call-up.
Openside flanker Evans revealed choosing quality over quantity on his attempts at stealing ball at breakdowns has elevated his game to new heights.
The 27-year-old has returned from the Gallagher Premiership’s break for the Six Nations as one of the form players in England, certainly in the back-row.
Steve Borthwick has visited all the Premiership clubs to stay in touch with the players in his Red Rose plans, but Evans admitted the England boss did not make any contact.
The uncapped Evans was overlooked for the England A team’s 91-5 victory over Portugal at Leicester in February too, but his consistent form has led to frequent pundit calls for a Test opportunity.
Refusing to dwell on his England situation though, Evans insisted in recent years he has developed the strength of mind to stay focused on his burgeoning Quins career.
“I haven’t heard anything from England,” Evans told Standard Sport.
“So I’ll just continue to play for Quins, and not think about it.
“If you’d asked me four years ago for my reaction to something like that I would have told you a completely different thing, but now it’s not on my mind.
“It doesn’t make me upset, it doesn’t make me frustrated: it just makes me more excited to play for Quins.”
Evans’ ball-stealing abilities have come to the fore in Quins’ three wins on the spin, culminating in last weekend’s stunning 42-41 Investec Champions Cup quarter-final win in Bordeaux.
Quins will face Sale on the road on Sunday still firmly in the hunt for the Premiership play-offs in a battle that will go right to the wire.
“I feel like the last four games I’ve played is probably the best rugby I’ve managed to put together potentially in my whole career,” said Evans.
“I had a sit-down with Danny Wilson and Jordan Turner-Hall, our new defence coach, to see where I could possibly make some gains and where I could cut out some silly errors.
“I feel like I’ve listened to that advice and I feel pretty strong with my game right now, which is pleasing.
“I was potentially dipping in at too many breakdowns.
“We were soaking up in defence more than any team in the league, and maybe I was trying to bail out the team a bit more than often.
“And then it was silly errors from myself going in for lost causes.
“So I’ve tried to limit the amount of times I’m going in and increasing my percentage of wins, and in the past four games that’s put me in good stead.
“I feel because it’s one of my super strengths I could make a 40-60 opportunity into a 60-40, but it’s the appreciation that sometimes if you don’t get it right you might leave the team short on the edge.
“So it’s choosing your battles wisely but also making sure we’re solid in defence has been key.
“It’s all on instinct, the distance between the clearer and the ball-carrier, if there is a certain distance and I think there’s time to attack it and get my forearm under the ball then I’ll do exactly that.
“Or it might be giving a nudge to one of their clearers, take them off balance, gain a metre or so to be able to take the ball. So there’s quite a few intricacies.”
Harlequins will host Northampton Saints at Twickenham on Saturday, April 27, with star music act Jess Glynne performing at the home of English rugby. Tickets are available from https://www.eticketing.co.uk/harlequins/
