ENGLAND’S forwards might have shown what they are made of against the world champion All Blacks but Ross Batty is adamant there is still a place in the starting front row for Bath teammate Rob Webber.

Stuart Lancaster’s England have now lost four times to New Zealand in this year alone, going down 24-21 at Twickenham last Saturday despite getting off to a fast start.

Lancaster’s men were comprehensively outplayed for the majority of the second half by the world’s No.1 side, but the set piece was exempt from any criticism – the England-pack even winning a penalty try in the dying minutes at scrum-time under the All Blacks’ posts.

It was a scrum that included hooker Webber, the 28-year-old having come off the bench just five minutes earlier and helping turn the screw against the visitors.

For Bath fans this is no surprise with Webber impressing week in week out as the West Country outfit sit fourth in the Premiership.

And while Hartley might seem to have the England No.2 jersey safely in his grasp for now, fellow Bath hooker Batty still believes Webber deserves his chance to shine from the word go.

“If you’re starting and playing well in a good team like Bath then you’re putting your hand up for those big international honours,” Batty said.

“The likes of Davey Wilson, Paul James and Webbs have been doing that – they’re out there starting and playing really well.

“We’ve been going so well up front and looking at them is where you want to be as a player – you want to be starting and putting your hand up to get those chances.

“That’s where you want to get to – playing for your country would be an absolute dream.

“Webbs has been on good form this year – his scrummaging and line-outs have been going really well, so he’s definitely put his hand up and it’s great to see him out there for England.

“He’s more than capable of doing it at international level as he showed on the summer tour, so I think he deserves a chance.

“He’s a very good player and there are a number of strong facets to his game.”

And despite both battling for the same spot on the Bath teamsheet week in week out, Batty admits he is happy to have Webber around with the England man helping him raising his game.

“Myself and Webbs get on well – we talk a lot about the nitty-gritty stuff likes scrums and line-outs where I’m sure we’re both happiest,” Batty added.

“It’s good to have someone with that knowledge – he picks up little bits off me and I pick little bits off him, so we improve each other all the time.

“It’s good and it can only help make you better in the long-run which is what we all want.”

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