HENRY Slade insists he still has plenty to give at international level and has not given up on adding to his England tally, despite a frustrating season on the sidelines.

The 33-year-old centre, who has 74 caps for the England national rugby union team, has featured just once this campaign — scoring against Argentina in November — and was overlooked throughout the recent Six Nations.

However, the Exeter Chiefs playmaker says his ambition to represent his country remains as strong as ever.

“Obviously, I want to play for England. I haven’t been, which is frustrating. But yeah, I definitely want to play for England,” said Slade.

The Plymothian revealed he has held honest discussions with head coach Steve Borthwick about his future, as they look ahead in the current World Cup cycle.

“We had some good conversations back and forth about what he wants, what I want, and what we want to do,” he said. “It was obviously disappointing for England in terms of how we finished and some of the results. But also personally disappointing about the non-existent game time.”

Despite the setback, Slade is focusing on controlling what he can – his performances for the Chiefs – and believes strong form at club level can force his way back into contention, including for a potential summer tour.

“You have times like that as a player where you control what you can control. That’s how hard you work and how well you do day in, day out on the training pitch,” he said. “There are some quality centres about… maybe it’s a time where Steve wants to try out other things. I think he knows what I can do.”

Slade added: “I really still have the big desire to play for England. I feel like we’re going well at Chiefs personally, and as a team, I’m just hoping that that can be seen and push my case to get another shot.

“I think it’s one in the last 10 international games that I’ve been a part of, something like that, so it’s been a frustrating time. Obviously, I broke my hand on the Argentina tour, which cut that short.

“I just want to try my best and do everything I can to get back in the team. We’ve always spoken about it here at Chiefs, doing as well as we can for yourself, and for each other, which then pushes your claim.”