Narraway: Has England dreams

The Gloucester number eight, who will captain a shadow England side against the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday, won his last Test cap over two years ago.

Narraway had been one of the standout players for England on their disappointing tour of New Zealand in 2008 but his star fell swiftly.

Injury ruled him out of that year's autumn internationals but Narraway then failed a fitness test and, by the end of the season, he was out of the international picture altogether.

Looking back, Narraway admits he got ahead of himself and allowed his standards to slip. That is not something England coach Martin Johnson will tolerate.

Narraway has finally come back into focus after an impressive season with Gloucester, captaining the Cherry and Whites to the Aviva Premiership semi-finals.

"It has been frustrating," said Narraway. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed (at other players being picked ahead of him) but that's the professional game.

"I went off the boil a little bit after that tour and then I backed that up with a season where I was injured and only played five games.

"I kind of fell off the radar but I feel I've had a decent season and Sunday's a great day to get myself back into the shop window and hopefully show what I can do."

Facing Narraway is the ultimate World Cup audition.

He goes head to head with the Italy captain Sergio Parisse while Toulon flankers Joe van Niekerk and George Smith complete a Barbarians back row that would match any in the world.

"It's not bad, is it?" said Narraway. "If we're talking about a game where people want to prove themselves, prove how well they're playing and their form, in the back row you're not going to come up against much better.

"So if you can perform against Parisse, Van Niekerk and Smith then I'm sure you can perform against any back row in the world.

"They have quality players throughout but we've got a very exciting player in Tom Johnson who has taken the Premiership by storm. He got my vote for player of the season.

"It will be great to play alongside him and see how he goes and then we've got a very abrasive player in Carl Fearns.

"We're not going to take a step backwards, we're going to get in the mix and see how we get on."

Harlequins prop Joe Marler and Worcester lock Graham Kitchener are the other uncapped players in the England pack, while Narraway's Gloucester team-mate Henry Trinder has been named at outside centre.

Two players leaving Kingsholm this summer, the prop Paul Doran-Jones and lock Dave Attwood, are both live World Cup contenders and have a point to prove this weekend.

Ugo Monye and James Simpson-Daniel start on the wings and Mike Brown gets a run at full-back after an impressive season for Harlequins.

Matt Banahan can be confident of a place in Johnson's World Cup plans but England are using this game as an opportunity to try him out at inside centre.

"It's about performing well so everyone can have an opportunity to show how good they are," said Narraway.