By Matt Majendie

Cohen recalled by England

Northampton wing Ben Cohen has credited a complete break from rugby for his return to England's starting line-up for the first time since June 2004.

On Sunday, Cohen was named on the wing to face Australia this weekend.

And the 27-year-old, who has scored 29 Test tries, said: "I took three months away from rugby - I just didn't watch any of it.

"Instead I just trimmed my trees and sat on the mower... and as a result I'm loving my rugby again."

Cohen admits last season was the worst of his professional career, during which he lost his place in England's starting XV to Mark Cueto.

And worse followed when the World Cup-winner suffered the shame of being dropped by his club Northampton.

He recalled: "Last year I was paid for a job that I hated doing.

"Lots of things had gone wrong. Things weren't right mentally and I was a little overweight - not beer-gut overweight mind you!

"Now I think I might be my fittest ever and I'm enjoying it."

BEN COHEN FACTFILE Born: 14 Sept 1978 Club: Northampton Position: Wing Test caps: 46 Test points: 145 (29 tries) Did you know? The era he'd most like to visit is Caesar's Rome Did you also know? If he wasn't a rugby player, he believes he'd be a fireman or policeman now

After a lacklustre 2004/5 season, in which he made just three international appearances off the bench, Cohen believed his England career was in tatters.

"I did think will I ever play for England again or even will I ever score a try again?" he admitted.

At the end of the season he was left out of the Lions squad but was still put on the stand-by list as well as being invited to tour North America with England.

But instead he opted to do nothing.

"When the Lions squad was announced I took myself off the stand-by list and decided I didn't want to go on the England tour," he said.

"In fact, I didn't want to do anything to do with rugby. I didn't even watch any of the Lions matches on TV."

While Cohen's approach may seem radical, he described it as his first rugby break for eight years.

And it quickly yielded dividends, with club coach Paul Grayson describing him as a "shining example" to his Saints team-mates this season.

Last time I played Australia we were spanked - I want to erase those memories come Saturday Ben Cohen

In comparison to last year when he managed just three tries all season, Cohen has already crossed the line against three Premiership opponents and notched up a hat-trick against European opponents Viadana.

"That break was really the best medicine," he said. "It was something I realised I needed after the World Cup and should have really taken it earlier.

"It's a rest I should have had a long time ago. I'd talked about it with my wife but, what with one thing and another, I didn't take that break."

Instead, he went on England's unsuccessful tour of the southern hemisphere, culminating in his last start for his country - the 51-15 defeat to Australia in Brisbane.

Coach Andy Robinson believes the Northampton speedster, the 10th-highest points scorer in England rugby history, is returning to "world-class status".

The player himself can't wait to get at Australia again, even though he considers himself lucky to be even playing.

"I thought I'd really missed the boat when I was left out of Andy's first squad announcement, so I decided to get stuck into things at Northampton instead," he said.