It feels absolutely fabulous to be back and playing for England at Twickenham today. I can’t really say exactly how I will be feeling in those last few hours before the game but I can say for sure that the old anxiety will be back, the nerves, the anticipation. And I’ll be aware, after the injuries and experiences of the past few years, of how much it means to me and that I must embrace it and make the most of it.

It has been awesome being back around an England squad. There is a lot I recognise here from England squads of the past, and those are the good bits, the things that should never change. I am talking about the values we hold: standing together, putting aside personal interests for the good of the team. With Martin Johnson around, it is not surprising that those are the values this group holds and it is not surprising that everyone is buying into them.

Of course, Johnno is another part of the old furniture that I recognise. It has been great to be around him again, but his change of status has made me realise that in the relationship we had before as players, or rather as player to captain, there was always a little bit of distance. And that is a good distance, by the way. He was a good friend, but I subconsciously maintained that distance out of respect for his captaincy.

By the end of his England career, I was the vice-captain to him. So I knew on the field, and sometimes off it, that it was my role to be involved in directing things, but in terms of stature within the leadership structure, I really only considered myself to be a bit player. Obviously I committed 100 per cent to it, as is my way; I just didn’t see myself anywhere near him in terms of leadership.

He was older, more experienced and when he said, “There’s a job to do, let’s go and do it,” we would listen.

Though I was the vice-captain, I almost tried to keep him in that light, to maintain that view of him in an elevated status; I certainly never thought of myself as being up there with him, or even close.

That same respect is there for him again now that he is team manager, although I’ll sometimes find myself sitting next to him, chatting, and there is no forgetting that he is also the guy that I went through a fair amount with as a fellow player.

The past is not often spoken about, although you cannot help the odd reference. There are other players — Steve Thompson, Lewis Moody, Ben Kay — from back in the Johnno playing days and every so often when a few of us are together, we have found ourselves laughing or reflecting back on those days.

So it was great, when we attended the dinner for the centenary of Twickenham on Monday night, that the person voted as the best player to have graced our national stadium was none other than Johnno himself.

I enjoy occasions like that because they allow you to appreciate the history and tradition of the game. In the top three, alongside Johnno, was Jason Robinson, who I used to watch from a privileged vantage point with my jaw on the floor, and Gareth Edwards, who I used to watch on my dad’s old videotapes.

Johnno received the award with the kind of modesty you would expect of him. He said that it was great to have won the award but that he was very aware that his achievements as a player were also those of the players around him.

And that, again, is what Johnno — and this England team — are about. Those are the values that we are all buying into.

So yes, going back to Twickenham today does feel hugely exciting, although I do remind myself that that is the way it seems in my own life, within my limited field of experience, which has been pretty much restricted to the sporting world.

I realise that, after a number of injuries, my playing for England today is seen as a comeback, something of interest. But in a general life sense, I haven’t experienced that much. My job today is about playing rugby for the national side, but I look at people who also represent their country but whose jobs are about life and death. For them, their scales of experience probably go up to 1,000.

My scale of experience probably stretches to ten. But this is a ten day for me and I intend to embrace it to the full.