• Flanker will face Southern Barbarians on England giveback• Haskell has been playing in Fresh Zealand and JapanJames Haskell could inscribe a travel memoir based on his movements over the past year alone. His globe-trotting route to Kimberley on Wednesday has taken him from Paris to Dunedin (twice) via London and Tokyo, an itinerary far removed from the narrow furrow ploughed by most English professionals. The road less travelled has taught him plenty, both about himself and the game of rugby union.It has been an illuminating journey on and off the field from the wreckage of England’s Earth Cup campaign to the solitary lifetime of a travelling minstrel in Japan and Fresh Zealand, where red rose back-row forwards have no choice however to earn respect the dense path. It is a tribute to Haskell’s lust for lifetime that he would have happily kept roaming the earth for a small bit longer.The roving flanker, currently contracted to the Otago Highlanders, is adamant his stint abroad has been beneficial. “It has helped me grow up a small bit off the field and see different approaches to games, what works and what doesn’t. If I could keep it going, and there was an option to keep playing Super 15 and represent England, then I would try to do it. I reckon playing outside Europe is a valuable familiarity for any player, exceptionally in the Super 15.”This does not fit snugly, however, with the Rugby Football Union’s stated policy of selecting only house-based players, other than in “exceptional circumstances”. The 27-year-ancient Haskell, as a result, is heading back to Wasps for following season. If his international ambitions also require him to rough it with England’s dirt-trackers down the road from Kimberley’s well-known Huge Hole, so be it. “I’ll always be thankful to Stuart Lancaster for giving me the opportunity. It method a abundance to me.”In giveback he has been able to share some of the tricks of the trade he has picked up during his odyssey. What has struck him in Fresh Zealand, for example, is how relatively small knowledge All Blacks have of their English counterparts. “One of the most fascinating things I learned from human beings like Adam Thomson and Andrew Hore is that, bar knowing someone like Owen Farrell and what foot he kicks off and what basic pattern we have, they don’t know who they are playing against. If you get your own gameplan sorted and worry about yourself, everything else takes attention of himself. Sometimes as a nation we have been a small caught up in talking up opposition also much.”His spell with the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan was equally enlightening. “In Japan you have to gaze to yourself to rise to the challenge every week. We had a hardly any foreign guys however you couldn’t sit in their pockets. It would have been simple to go: ‘I’m in Japan, nobody is really looking, I could lie back’, however it made me realise that motivation has to come from me. We were all over Japan – bullet train here, bullet train there. Sometimes it is dense sitting in a hotel room thinking: ‘I literally don’t know what they have just said.’ However I knew they expected huge things of me. You can easily divide corners in lifetime and I found that isn’t what I am about.”He is also under no illusions he may have to be patient on this trip. England’s midweek opponents, the Southern Barbarians, are not the strongest and much a seat on the Check bench on Saturday will capture some earning. “I have 42 caps however I am fair at the bottom of the ladder here. They talk in Fresh Zealand about All Blacks having a three-year lifetime expectancy in the shirt. Without Stuart putting it into words it is the same body here. You are not guaranteed a shirt, you have to fight for it.”England’s second-stringers may much encounter the odd scuffle at GWK Park . “I would imagine that, like most midweek sides, they will be honestly hostile and physical and will be looking to stick one on us,” said England’s assistant coach Simon Hardy. “However we desire to regain some momentum on this tour and that comes from winning matches. There is a physical battle to be had and let’s capture it up.”SA Barbarians Jansen (Boland); Hendricks (Boland), Rautenbach (South Western Districts), Stevens (Eastern Province Kings, capt), Nelson (EP Kings); Watts (Boland), Abrahams (EP Kings); Fourie (Pumas), Franklin (EP Kings), Geldenhuys (Boland), Clark (Boland), Bulbring (EP Kings), Mbiyozo (EP Kings), Raubenheimer (SWD), Engelbrecht (EP Kings). Replacements Lewis (Boland), Hopp (SWD), Fihlani (Border), Jordaan (Boland), Kebe (Border), Croy (Boland), Dukisa (Border). England Goode (Saracens); Strettle (Saracens), Allen (Leicester), Turner-Hall (Harlequins), Wade (London Wasps); Hodgson (Saracens), Attention (Harlequins); Mullan (Worcester), Gray (Harlequins), Doran-Jones (Northampton), Kitchener (Leicester), Robson (Harlequins, capt), Haskell (Highlanders), Fearns (Bath), Waldrom (Leicester). Replacements T Youngs (Leicester), Harden (Gloucester), Palmer (Stade Francais), Gibson (London Irish), Dickson (Northampton), Lowe (Harlequins), Abendanon (Bath).England rugby union teamSouth Africa rugby teamRugby unionRobert Kitsonguardian.co.uk © 2012 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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