When I found myself running down the blindside and over the try line against Saracens last weekend, I realised it was the first time in a while I’d had time to think about how I might celebrate scoring a try.
I've taken a bit of stick off the Quins lads for the swan dive over the line, but what do they know? If you ask me it was quite a cool dive rounded off with a kiss to the fans, just to let them know how happy I was to be back.
After a frustrating few weeks with injury it just felt great to be back playing rugby. In the Guinness Premiership you'll get exposed early doors if you're not on your mettle from the get-go, and I felt settled into the game straight away.
The England boss Martin Johnson spoke to me before the Sarries match. He told me I didn't have anything to prove to anyone, just to go out there and play my own game.
That gave me a bit of confidence to go and perform. I think if you try too hard you end up making mistakes. I just went out there and did my own thing and scoring an important try on my return was a great feeling.
But now we're all totally focused on facing France at Twickenham on Sunday. We can't afford to think about the old fans' cliche: "You never know which France is going to turn up."
They were superb when they switched it on against Wales in Paris and I expect them to come out firing again. And the back row of Sebastien Chabal, Thierry Dusautoir and Imanol Harinordiquy is hardly the smallest in the world, is it?
There's some big, strong ball carriers in there and our defence is going to have to step up. If we can take those guys out of the game it will be crucial.
As for this business about Danny Cipriani being unpopular with England, I've seen absolutely no evidence of that. The Coaches have told the media this week that selection is based on performance, nothing else, and that's spot on. I’m sure Danny will get his chance for England again.
I knew going into the England media session at the team hotel on Wednesday what the questions were going to be about - my Croke Park yellow card.
A lot of people seemed to think scoring that try last weekend was the start of my 'rehabilitation', but that simply isn't the way I look at it.
I'm just looking forward to getting on, if I get the opportunity, and making a positive impact against France. As they sang at the World Cup in 2007 - Allez les Blancs!
Cheers, DC
