After England’s proposed trip to Italy on February 10 fell foul of the weather, Walker and co’s only other match of the Championship was a crushing 59-3 win over Scotland, leaving Rob Hunter’s side with an impressive two wins from two.

But table-toppers Ireland have won all three of their opening games and Harlequins’ Walker admits his side must improve further if they’re to repeat last year’s feat of a Grand Slam.

“It was great to get the win in front of such a supportive home crowd,” said Walker.

“The first half was a bit stop-start, but in the second half of the second half I felt that we really moved up the gears and played some good rugby.

“This was the first time a lot of the guys have played for the 20s and it was refreshing to see how well everyone played – to a man I think everyone did their job excellently.

“We’ll take a lot from this win, but we know that there’s still a lot to work on, and we’ll look to be even better when we play Italy in Rovigo next Saturday.”