Barkley wants to be an England 'banker'
Bath star looking forward to his reunion with Catt and Ashton
Bath playmaker Olly Barkley sees his England call-up for the Australia tour as an opportunity to establish himself in the 1st XV rather than simply challenge the likes of Charlie Hodgson and Jonny Wilkinson for the fly-half berth.
The Bath star, who missed this year's Six Nations through injury, knows it would require something special Down Under to depose Hodgson, the current guardian of the lillywhite No.10 jersey, who has starred for both England and Guinness Premiership champions Sale.
"Charlie's been playing outstandingly well and he's the form 10 in Europe at the moment," said Barkley, who has played most of his recent rugby in the centre because of injuries at his club.
He returned to fly-half to contribute 21 points in England's 46-19 victory over the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday, coming out on top in the personal duel with his boyhood hero Carlos Spencer.
"It's a long time since I was playing 10 at Twickenham in a white shirt, in fact it's a long time since I was playing 10 full stop," he said.
Barkley, who had not figured at fly-half for England since the France game in March 2004, is still pondering whether he would rather play there or inside centre.
"I'm still undecided. I enjoy the variety of playing at 12 because you can inter-change a bit and that keeps you fresh," he said.
It also offers him the prospect of playing alongside Hodgson, one of England's key players handed a summer's rest before the long slog through to next year's Rugby World Cup finals in France.
"Charlie's playing fantastically at the moment. He's a good friend of mine and I'm delighted for him," said Barkley.
Hodgson, originally perceived to be simply keeping the shirt warm for the rested/injured Wilkinson, has made the position his own but Barkley declines to draw comparisons with that situation.
"I just see it that Charlie has been given the time off because he's played a lot of rugby and as a result I'm playing 10. I'm playing well and I'd love to come out of these two games with two victories," he said.
"If Charlie had come on tour we would probably have played 10 and 12 together and that's something I missed in the Six Nations.
"I really enjoy playing with Charlie and I'm disappointed he's not coming, both from a playing point of view and a social point of view because we get on.
"If I'm picked and play well I'll put myself in the mix. If you stick your hand up in a 10 jersey then you can put yourself in a position to play 12 as well."
In the absence of Hodgson, he is looking forward to pairing up once more with Mike Catt, his 34-year-old former Bath team-mate who has resurrected his international career by catching the eye of England head coach Andy Robinson with an inspirational season for London Irish.
"Robbo told me Catty was going on the tour six or eight weeks ago," revealed Barkley.
"One thing we never really got to finish off at Bath was playing together in the 10 and 12 axis. I never thought I would be doing it in a white jersey with him so it's very exciting."
Barkley is also relishing a rapid reunion with Brian Ashton, England's new attacking coach who only rejoined the national set-up from Bath last week.
"Brian's a fantastic coach with a very enjoyable outlook on the way the game should be played so he's a fantastic addition to the RFU and a huge loss for Bath, unfortunately," added Barkley.
"I would have loved him to have stayed because I would have more time with him but, looking on the bright side, he's not left both organisations. He's gone from one to the other and, form permitting, I'll be involved with the England squad so I'll still work with him.
"If he'd left for somewhere else he would have ben out of my career for good so I'm happy to see him here.
"He tends to coach the game in a way that's very exciting and enjoyable to play. You can't really get bored playing under Brian."
