By Bryn Palmer

Corry awarded England captaincy

For a player who has spent most of his career in the shadows, being thrust into the limelight of the England captaincy should be a daunting prospect for Martin Corry.

But if his appointment has a temporary look, for the final two matches of the Six Nations campaign, Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Robinson should beware.

"Cozza", as he is known to his team-mates, has made a habit of taking his chances in the Test arena.

Give him an inch, and he will happily take a country mile, especially when he is belatedly invited to the party.

In 2001, after a bit-part role in England's Six Nations campaign, he was dispatched to North America for a development tour with the other unfortunates who failed to make it onto the Lions tour of Australia.

But a day after playing in a Test victory over Canada, Corry was on his way down under, summoned as a replacement for injured Scot Simon Taylor.

Two weeks later he had forced his way into the Lions starting XV and stayed there, playing in all three Tests against the Wallabies.

Injury problems and the emergence of Lewis Moody and Joe Worsley put Corry, who made his England debut against Argentina in 1997, back on the periphery.

Corry is a ferocious competitor

He missed out on England's entire Grand Slam campaign in 2003 and the World Cup seemed another forlorn dream.

But given his chance owing to Lawrence Dallaglio's unavailability in warm-up Tests against Wales and France, Corry confirmed his seat on the plane to Australia with some forceful displays.

If it hadn't been for Dallaglio, Corry might have won a good deal more than his 35 England caps to date.

Of his first 30, 20 arrived from the replacements' bench.

But since Dallaglio announced his retirement from the Test scene last September, Corry has revelled in finally assuming front-line status.

Andy Robinson picked him for his first game in charge against Canada last November and Corry responded with a barnstorming display in a thumping win over South Africa the following week.

An untimely dislocated elbow playing for Leicester in early January appeared to have scuppered his Six Nations chances.

But the 31-year-old made a miraculous recovery, setting his alarm for the middle of the night to ensure he extracted the maximum benefit from regular ice treatment.

Martin towered above many of his England team-mates in Dublin Leicester coach John Wells

Six weeks later he was drafted straight back into Test action against France, and has been England's stand-out forward in both that setback and the defeat in Ireland.

Corry is clearly in the form of his life, and with Martin Johnson, Dallaglio and Neil Back all gone, has shown an relish for responsibility as one of the pack lieutenants that bodes well.

His only previous captaincy experience was as a 23-year-old with Bristol in the 1996-97 season.

Now, eight years later, he finds himself handed the top job in English rugby.

At number eight, he is ideally placed to make decisions at the sharp end, and is already involved in calling moves from the base of the scrum.

And if determination and dedication are useful captaincy traits, England might have found their ideal leader by default.