Billy Twelvetrees has expressed his desire to nail down his place in the England side and turn the midfield into the creative hub of the team.
An underwhelming autumn saw the selection of Joel Tomkins at 13 in an England midfield that has been largely unsettled since the World Cup-winning axis of Will Greenwood and Mike Tindall were last together in 2004.
Twelvetrees, who is likely to start Saturday's Six Nations opener in France alongside either Brad Barritt or Luther Burrell due to Manu Tuilagi's chest injury, is eager to make the latest combination of centres succeed.
"You get scrutinised in whatever position you play. We've got huge ambition," Twelvetrees told reporters. "Personally I have massive ambition to play in the centre for England and do as well as I can, creating things so that we can score tries.
"It's up to us at 10-12-13 to create opportunities, to punch holes and to give boys space. We definitely have the personnel to do that.
"Week-in, week-out in the Premiership the boys are scoring tries and creating opportunities, it's just about getting the balance right and doing it in an England shirt."
England travel to Paris to open their Six Nations campaign against France on Saturday.
Matt Cotton
