Wednesday 23 November 2016 23:09, UK
George Kruis believes England's squad can be compared to Manchester United's 'Class of '92'.
Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary and Phil Neville formed a formidable base of the Manchester United squad that led to numerous Premier League titles at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Eddie Jones' England defence coach Paul Gustard - who played and coached at Saracens before taking up the role - likened the Sarries contingent of Kruis, Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje and Mako Vunipola to Ferguson's emerging talents after they marched to an Aviva Premiership and European double last season.
"People spoke about the Class of '92 at Man United, well Saracens had their own class," Gustard said.
"Once one started achieving there was enough peer pressure that they all wanted to out-perform each other and strive to do things together. They are a close group."
Kruis insists the comparisons between Manchester United and Saracens should not confined to his club.
The 26-year-old has been recalled for England's Test against Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday, live on Sky Sports 2, following injury and is expected to be named alongside Courtney Lawes in second row when Jones announces his starting side on Thursday.
"Definitely there's a sense that, as a group, we've got responsibility for each other," Kruis said.
"When you have five or six players coming through together it's like that competition between brothers. It always pushes you a little bit further.
"We've got a good respect for each other which means you have to turn up each week and ultimately play well for each other.
"At Saracens it's dragged a lot of people along with us. We're a very young team still, with a hell of a lot of experience. It's exciting for us.
"And I think it extends to England, I really do. If you look at what England have tried to build here, then there are a lot of similarities here between club and country.
"If you look at results there are a lot of similarities as well. You've got to breed a culture in which people want to improve and constantly push each other."
Kruis has returned to action just five weeks after ankle surgery that threatened to rule him out of the entire autumn program, travelling between Saracens and England for his rehabilitation.
"I never gave up playing in these games. I just wanted to get back to playing as soon as I could for either club or country," Kruis added.
"There were few things wrong with the ankle. There was a bit of wear and tear and for the last year, there were two bits of floating bone in the joint.
"I'd been able to play on but more recently it's been shutting down, so after the Toulon game, I spoke to both parties and we decided I needed to get it taken out as soon as possible.
"Before I was struggling with it - I could do the session but I'd want to get off my feet as soon as possible.
"I am really glad I've done it. I've got lots of confidence in the ankle now. I woke up two or three days after the operation and thought it already feels better, the pressure in the foot feels less."
Kruis is drawing inspiration from team-mate Owen Farrell's man-of-the-match comeback for Saracens against Toulon, having been out for almost three months.
"We are in an environment now where you can push yourself in the weeks leading up to it as much as you can. We've got everything available to be in peak condition," Kruis said.
"You've got Owen Farrell who played in the Toulon game, which was pretty much Test match intensity, having had months off. He came back very sharp.
"Things like that give you a lot of confidence. You've got to have a lot of confidence in yourself. If I didn't feel right, I wouldn't be here."
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