The Brian Ashton era begins against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday, with Leicester number eight Corry among a tiny minority retained in their starting positions following England's autumn of discontent.

And while Corry still vividly recalls those numbing November experiences - including a Tuesday night telephone call from Andy Robinson informing his skipper he was departing as England head coach - there is also a fierce determination to start turning things around.

No-one probably felt the pain of England's demise last year more than Corry, who wins his 50th cap in this weekend's Calcutta Cup clash.

Defeat followed defeat and inquest after inquest dominated the English rugby landscape, yet through it all, Corry managed to retain his dignity - and above all, desire - in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds.

'At the time, you just deal with it,' said Corry, who will line up in a new-look England team led by Wasps prop Phil Vickery.

'It is only when you stop and start to relax that you realise something like that was pretty heavy going.'

Corry, given some much-needed time off by his club following the autumn debacle, was on a family holiday when Robinson rang him.

'Robbo called me on the Tuesday night before everything was announced on the Wednesday. I got on well with him, and it was disappointing from a players' perspective to have put him in that position,' Corry added.

'It was the mark of the guy to get in touch. He was very close to the players, and you always knew what was happening, good or bad.

'When we analysed every game in the autumn, it was individual mistakes that cost us.

If you look at the second South Africa game, which is a great example, we were 14-3 up and in a position where if you move to 21-3, then that is a winning margin.

'But we were 14-3 ahead, made three mistakes and went in at half-time 16-14 down. That wasn't the coach's responsibility, it was the players' fault we had let slip a very good position.

'Of course, I felt responsible for that.'