Strettle can’t wait to make up for his lost chances

David Strettle could be

forgiven for feeling bitter at the

twist of luck that robbed him

of a place in England's

extraordinary journey to the

World Cup final.

But the 24-year-old

Harlequins winger admits that

his brush with a deadly virus

during England's build-up to

the tournament in France

helped him keep in

perspective the broken

metatarsal that cost him a

World Cup runners-up medal.

Now, as he looks a certainty

for Brian Ashton's starting XV in the Six Nations opener

against Wales at Twickenham

on February 2, Strettle has

revealed the full nightmare of

the illness he suffered during

England's summer tour to

South Africa.

"The England doctor, Simon

Kemp, told me afterwards that

he'd never seen a man of my

age as ill as I had been," said

Strettle.Kemp had found the

England player lying on his

hotel room floor and struggling to breathe.He

raised the alarm and Strettle

spent three days in intensive

care in Johannesburg.

"I'd had a horrible, feverish

night and when I arrived at

the hospital I was put straight

on a drip," said Strettle. "A

number of things scared me,

like the fact that they wanted

to put a line directly into my

neck. But the worst sight was

of Viv Brown, the England

team manager, in tears."

Brown admitted later that he

had been petrified that Strettle

might suffer the fate of fellow Quin Nick Duncombe, the

England scrum-half who died

from a virus in 2003.

Strettle not only survived

but, with full health restored,

he put his World Cup dream

back on track as England

demolished Wales at

Twickenham in their first

World Cup warm-up game.

Then disaster struck again.

"It was a training session,

Jonny Wilkinson spun the ball

to me, I stepped on my left

foot to accelerate and felt a

crunch," said Strettle. "Nobody

needed to tell me my foot was broken and I was out for 12

weeks. Of course I was upset

but I had to place things in

perspective. After what

happened in South Africa I

didn't have too much to

complain about."

Recovered, and with a steel

pin in his strengthened foot,

Strettle is back to his best and

excited at England's prospects.

"We are in a brilliant

situation," he said. "We go into

the Six Nations as World Cup

finalists and with a host of

youngsters being the form

players in English rugby."