Former Rosslyn Park youngster Danny Cipriani has revealed playing alongside England rival Jonny Wilkinson was like a dream come true.
The 20-year-old London Wasps star finally made his first senior international start in Saturday's 33-10 drubbing of Ireland at Twickenham.
World Cup winner Wilkinson was dropped to the bench to accommodate the Roehampton-born fly-half on the final weekend of this year's Six Nations, which saw Wales clinch their second grand slam this century.
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Cipriani claimed 18 points with the boot in the coveted number 10 shirt as Wilkinson was only introduced to the fray at centre with half an hour remaining.
But the former Whitgift School student admitted his was a calming influence as head coach Brian Ashton's men went on to close out victory scoring an unanswered 17 points with the pair on the pitch.
"We knew we owed the coaches, the fans, the whole of England, a big performance, and it's great that we did because we can be a great team. We've got so many talented players," he said.
"All week we did a lot of work on what to do in positions where we were uncomfortable with slow ball and so on. We ran hard, were very direct and went wide at the right times."
"It was massively reassuring to have Jonny alongside me in the closing stages. I'd dreamt of playing with him when I was younger and it was great to be able to do it."
England came from 10-0 down to secure their third victory of an otherwise disappointing campaign thanks to tries from Paul Sackey, Mathew Tait and Jamie Noon.
European Cup winner Cipriani delivered an assured display after being axed from the starting line-up for last week's defeat to Scotland.
But the youngster admitted his performance belied the nerves he felt on the morning of the match.
"I'd been thinking about the game in my head for millions of times and I was awake at 4am thinking about what I'd do," he added.
"I'd been more nervous, though, playing for Wasps in the Heineken Cup final.
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