Booth declared that the England coaching staff should ‘come and have a look’ at his hooker after his display in the 23-19 win.

Hartley and Brive’s Steve Thompson shared the No. 2 shirt through England’s under par Autumn which brought an unconvincing win against Argentina and defeat against Australia and New Zealand.

But while accepting that it will be hard to oust the duo, Paice insists the Hartley showdown - at Northampton on January 2 - will provide no better opportunity to force Johnson’s hand.

“Any team that you want to break into, you are always looking at ways you can get in and there weren’t many players in the England team who came out with much credit from the autumn internationals,” said Paice.

“Unfortunately for me, I think Hartley and Thommo played pretty well in the autumn which is a bit frustrating.

“But all I can do is keep playing as well as I can do.

“If I have a good game then suddenly people will start talking about me again – I certainly won’t have any problem getting motivated.”