The former Leicester Tiger was on the cusp of being named in Brian Ashton's plans for the 2007 World Cup, but he narrowly missed the cut to go to France. "Back when I was playing, I missed out on a World Cup and I was down to the last three that didn't make it to France. You genuinely believe you should be going and that is the hard bit about all of this. "To be honest, we have been having weekly catch-ups on the Red Roses squad since we came together in July. "I found getting back into rugby as quick as possible made it [the hurt of missing out on a World Cup] a bit better," Deacon adds.

Source: The Times September 22, 2022 02:46 UTC