Danny Grewcock has praised Steve Borthwick after his impressive displays for England.
Danny Grewcock has praised Bath and England second-row partner Steve Borthwick after his impressive displays in the opening two Six Nations matches.
Borthwick has been far from a regular in the England set-up, with his 24 caps spread over six years - however he finally seems to be keeping his place in the starting 15.
Team mate Grewcock believes England's success has a lot to do with Borthwick's form.
"Sometimes Borth gets pigeonholed as being a bit of a lineout forward and he's definitely very good at it but there's a lot more to him than that," said Grewcock.
"The rest of his game is incredibly strong now. He's a great thinker of the game but also somebody who works incredibly hard.
"Recently he has proved what a good defender hi is and a good mover.
"I feel it helps my game having Steve there, with the work he does in the lineout and in the loose
"You know what each other are going to do and it makes communication a bit easier because you know what to expect."
Grewcock added that England are in good spirits before the tricky Calcutta Cup match against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.
"Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the most confident we have been for the Calcutta Cup in the last few years.
"But we have got to take that confidence into the game. We have felt confident before every game we have played in the last two years."
