AYOOLA Erinle has finally won a place in the England squad. The talented Wasps centre has been lauded by his coach Warren Gatland and was nominated as Zurich Player of the Season.

But it looked like he would miss out on international recognition this season when he was only given a standby slot for England's Churchill Cup squad.

But Mike Tindall's failure to recover from a shoulder injury has given Erinle the chance to prove himself for his country after helping Wasps beat Leicester in the Grand Final on Saturday.

Speaking after the match, Erinle said: "It was a gladiatorial environment when we came out.

"I was very apprehensive because it was the first final I'd started but I was very focussed because I wanted to go out there and prove a point.

"Things had been said about aspects of my game and I just wanted to prove I'm not a one-trick pony.

"It's very satisfying to finally beat these guys in the important occasion.

"I was quite happy to sacrifice getting one over them if the team won but Josh Lewsey and I got the better of them."

Erinle's performance drew praise but he felt he should have capped the display with a try-assist when he threw the ball away instead of spotting winger Paul Sackey on his outside.

He said: "I'm still getting abuse from Sackey for not passing to him.

"If the game had turned and we hadn't won, I would have been quite down but it all went well."

Erinle has also been added to the England squad for their end-of-season game against the Barbarians next Saturday at Twickenham.

But Gatland reckons British Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward has missed a trick by not taking Erinle with him to New Zealand.

He said: "Clive Woodward spoke to Lawrence Dallaglio. He said: Erinle's not bad,' and Lol said that's what we've been trying to tell you for two years.

"We put together a Wasps video of the last three years for the coach on the way here.

"It was only a couple of minutes long but we could have put ten minutes together of just Erinle."