Owen Farrell has said that England have a "great set of lads" in their squad for this year's Six Nations.
The side have begun training together this week in preparation for their first game of the 2012 tournament, which is against Scotland next weekend.
The Saracens fly-half told Sky Sports News: "As a group we feel like we have the ground running this week. Last year it was almost like starting from scratch, learning basic calls and getting to know each other and so on.
"I feel like this year we know each other, everybody gets along well and we have a great set of lads that are willing to go out there and put their bodies on the line for each other.
"The first challenge is Scotland, so we have got to put all our attention on that. Then the week after the challenge will be Ireland, so we will look at that and do the same. That is how we've got to do it, we've got to take it step by step."
England finished second in last year's competition, losing just one game to eventual champions Wales.
