He had a very successful 2009 Six Nations tournament, starting for England as a result of the ankle injury to Danny Care, and went on to score two tries in a man-of-the-match performance against , where his opposite number was, unusually, Mauro Bergamasco. He started all subsequent Six Nations matches, where he played scrum-half to former teammate Andy Goode, and then current teammate Toby Flood's fly-half. His last game for England came in the Calcutta Cup win over .