Jack Nowell targets England starting berth this weekend

As the son of a trawlerman, you might expect Jack Nowell to have been the first volunteer for England’s fishing trip out on the Indian Ocean this week. The team cast off from their base in Perth for an afternoon on the water but Nowell, after eight years in the international camp and even more injuries, knows when it is time to give his body a rest.

‘Hell no did I go,’ said the winger. ‘I’ve been in these environments for quite a while. It sounds like a really good idea to go on these things after training, and the boys had a hell of a time, but for me I prefer to get through my training and do that sort of stuff on a day off.

‘The boys were out there for a few hours and the weather was awful in the end! I think they caught three fish between them and 80 per cent of them were seasick. Me and big Joe Cokanasiga went in a sauna and a flotation chamber and had a little nap! We got it right!

Having gone 1,065 days without an England cap, injury-ridden Nowell made his latest comeback for England during the Six Nations. He was selected for every match, before breaking his arm 25 minutes into the final match against France.

‘Touch wood I feel I’m in a good little spot at the moment,’ he said. ‘There wasn’t anything I could do about breaking my arm…I jumped up for a high ball, landed on it funny and had a clean break of my radius. It’s just one of those things. The injuries I really struggled with were the muscle tears and then rushing to get back after I had my foot operated on. I was desperate to get back for the autumn but I didn’t make it because my foot wasn’t right. Then I was desperate to get back for the Six Nations, rushed it and tore my hamstring. Hopefully this is me going forward. If anyone works that out [the number of days I’ve missed] please don’t tell me. It’s depressing, isn’t it? If I started thinking like that I think I’d get bogged down quite a bit.’

During his time on the sidelines, Nowell confided in fellow England international Manu Tuilagi. The pair shared rehabilitation tips and met up recently, with their young children, at a kid’s soft play in Manchester.

The winger recovered from his arm break in time to be assured of a place in Eddie Jones’ touring party and should play a crucial role in Australia

Having not won an England cap in over 1,000 days, Nowell was dealt an unlucky blow in the last match of the Six Nations when he was forced to withdraw with a broken arm

‘I speak to Manu quite a lot,’ said Nowell. When we’re in camp I quite often room with Manu, our partners are quite close and our kids are a similar age as well. A few weeks before we came out here I went up to see him to see how he’s getting on. We went to the kid’s soft play because that’s what we get up to now! Life is a bit different!

‘He’s always one of the first people to text me when he hears I’m injured at club level and vice versa. During the Six Nations we laughed quite a bit because we were always missing each other. We kept saying we were like ships in the night. We kind of both know what we’re going through. A lot of the lads that are fit all the time and are lucky enough to stay injury free don’t really get that. When you’re in that [unfortunate position] and see the darkness of it…it’s quite tough.

‘Manu’s always so positive. At the end of the day we’re injured and it sucks but things could be a lot worse. I just keep it so simple in my mind that I want to get back and play. I always target one game that I want to get back for. Luckily so far I’ve done that.’

Jack Nowell was part of the 2016 whitewash of Australia in 2016 and will hope for similar fortunes this time around

Nowell is now aiming for a starting berth in Saturday’s series opener against Australia. He featured on the 2016 whitewash Down Under and he is targeting another dominant summer.

‘I remember speaking to Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan Dickie and Henry Slade… those boys didn’t play one Test last time we were out here but they still say it’s one of the best tours they’ve ever been on,’ said Nowell. ‘It’s one they remember because how good we were as a team off the field. We went off and did fishing trips, boys playing golf, different experiences.

‘Winning is what makes the tour so good. Obviously we went 2-0 up and it would have been very easy for us to sit back. There were times when we were camped on our own line for 10 or 20 minutes in the last Test. Where we were as a team at that stage, we came through it and managed to win. 3-0 sounds better than 2-1. We’re here for the same result.’

Manu Tuilagi (L) and Jack Nowell (R) have grown close after both suffering from injury troubles