Nick Easter says that he is convinced that England Six Nations victory over Wales in the opening round of the 2010 season is the start of a bright future and not another false dawn for England.
Easter who plays eighth man for Harlequins was one of England's outstanding performers in their 30-17 win over Wales.
Easter has been involved in a number of significant England victories in the past such as Australia and France in the 2007 World Cup, Ireland in the 2008 Six Nations and the French again in the 2009 Six Nations.
This time however he believes that the victory over Wales could be a turning point as it provides proof to both the players and fans that things are moving in the right direction.
England came under fire following their disappointing Autumn internationals which Easter and many others missed but this time the team has been praised for showing attack and progress.
"It was up there as one of the most meaningful results I have been involved in," Easter told the Daily Mail.
"We are just glad now that we have a yardstick and I don't think it will be another false dawn."
"The environment is a lot more relaxed. As an international side, you try and achieve it becoming more like a club environment and player led, which Johnno is always striving for.
"We are getting there. We have been together for two weeks, we have had one result, so I am not getting carried away but we are definitely heading in the right direction.
"We are getting some sort of identity, which is what we want. To get the result with three tries, it was a good start. We showed character when Wales came back from 20-3 to 20-17."
England are however not getting carried away and Easter knows they are still some distance from the finished article and will need to improve again against Italy on Sunday.
"The first half was a bit turgid around the 10-metre lines. We tried to play a bit of rugby but defences are good at that stage,' said Easter.
"One area we need to work on is taking the points when we are down there. We have to turn pressure into points and that is something we will learn.
"It is a must-win game in Italy but it is going to be tough. They are a good side."
"They have been in the Six Nations now for 10 years. A lot of their players are playing in our league and the French league.
"Any team will miss Sergio Parisse, he is a world-class number eight and he has been for a number of years, but they will cope without him.
"They have got good strength in depth, particularly in the forwards."
England expect to have Riki Flutey back for the match against Italy this weekend.
