Fin Baxter enters Sunday’s clash against Eddie Jones’ Japan with the twin aims of securing his first win for England and finishing the autumn on an upbeat note.
England are overwhelming favourites to end their five-Test losing run against opponents ranked 13th in the world having already fallen to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa at Allianz Stadium this month.
Baxter’s five caps have all been won during the nation’s worst sequence of results since 2018 but the 22-year-old prop is still able to appreciate his exposure to the unforgiving side of international rugby.
“We’re desperate to win and put in a performance to finish it off, but we’re not underestimating Japan by any stretch,” Baxter said.
“I’ve been thinking that if I can enjoy myself with things being as they are right now, when results are not going our way and the games are so close that it’s gutting, then when we win it will be incredible.
“I’ve actually enjoyed this time and when we go one step further it’s going to be pretty cool.”
England’s inability to score points in the final quarter has keen key to their downfall, adding to the sense of frustration given that in each defeat they have been in a strong position with 20 minutes to go.
“We’ve been saying that you don’t learn the things we’ve been learning without actually going through these scenarios. We have more tools now,” Baxter said.
“My biggest take away from this autumn has been that you can always affect the play, especially being a heavy tight five forward.
“And how the simpleness of the game is almost ramped up. As long as you run hard, hit hard and carry hard – everything gets ramped up.
“The off-the-ball work is the biggest difference to playing in the Premiership. In the Premiership if you’re not sprinting into position, you’ll probably be OK.
“Here if you’re not set and not jumping off the line as fast as you can, and therefore you’re not making a dominant hit, there’s a difference.”
Baxter is pushing hard to start against Japan after making all three of his appearances this autumn off the bench. Head coach Steve Borthwick names his team on Friday afternoon.