The Harlequins captain Chris Robshaw is ready to answer his country's call and lead England into their opening Six Nations clash with Scotland next Saturday.
Robshaw, 25, has emerged as one of the leading contenders to captain England in the Calcutta Cup showdown, particularly with the Northampton flanker Tom Wood sidelined by a toe injury.
Dylan Hartley and Tom Croft are the other candidates from the new leadership group assembled by the interim coach Stuart Lancaster during England's training week in Leeds.
Lancaster, who has indicated he may share the honour around during the Six Nations to help foster that new leadership group, on Monday will announce his captain for the Scotland game.
Robshaw has developed into a respected leader at club level and been one of the outstanding Aviva Premiership players of the season.
"I feel I have definitely evolved and grown with experience," Robshaw said.
"In my first couple of games I was probably a bit nervous and looked around at players who had been to World Cup finals or were 10 years older than me. It can be quite a daunting time for a young guy, but it is all about doing it in the way you want to do it.
"Of course, you have people trying to influence things, but at the end of the day, you have to make those hard decisions and it is about experience.
"You learn how to speak to the ref and you learn how to speak to certain players - whether a player needs to be shouted at or have a arm put around his shoulder.
"These things don't happen overnight but I feel I have grown into the role. I would relish the chance to captain the side at Murrayfield."
England's new youthful squad will reap the dividends of a "humble" group of players, according to Andy Farrell, the assistant coach whose 20-year-old son Owen is expected to start against Scotland.
England's meltdown after the Rugby World Cup has led to a new group rising from the ashes under Lancaster, with a fresh approach and fresh faces, too.
Farrell, coach at Saracens, believes there are grounds for optimism. "We won't know how they'll perform until we go out there at Murrayfield but the squad's got excitement, it's got characters and it's got leaders," he said.
"It's got guys who complement each other and it's got no egos in it.
"It's not about someone being the best player in the world, it's about whether he can play for the team.
"There will be challenges ahead but if we can mould a side that fights for one another I think we can surprise a few."
The prop Adam Jones has backed regional colleague Paul James to ensure Wales do not rue the injury absence of Gethin Jenkins for the opening engagements of their campaign.
The Cardiff Blues prop Jenkins is set to be out for up to five weeks after suffering a knee injury in his region's Heineken Cup victory over Racing Metro.
That makes Jenkins the third first-choice player to be ruled out of Wales's opening clash with Ireland next weekend, with the locks Alun Wyn Jones and Luke Charteris also out.
Warren Gatland, the coach, also has injury doubts over fly-half Rhys Priestland (knee), centre Jamie Roberts (knee) and flanker Dan Lydiate (ankle).
Gatland admitted the loss of the 83-cap forward Jenkins is a huge blow to his side.
But James stepped into the loosehead jersey in 2010 and 2011 to good effect.
And Jones, 30, has every confidence that his Ospreys teammate will once again prove to be a more-than-able deputy. "Paul has always done very well when he has been called upon," Jones said.
The Italy lock Antonio Pavanello will miss the Azzurri's Six Nations opener against France after been banned for two weeks following a European Rugby Cup disciplinary hearing yesterday into his stamp on Jackson Wray of Saracens.
