THE emotion was there for all to see when Chris Horsman powered over the whitewash at the Millennium Stadium for his maiden try in a Wales shirt.

Worcester's English-born pr-op was in inspired form in the victory against his native country and produced what many - his club boss included - regard as his finest international performance to date.

Horsman admits he was desperate to help Wales to a first Six Nations win of the campaign for the sake of his team-mates and beleaguered head coach Gareth Jenkins.

"It was brilliant," he said. "As a squad we massively needed a win. We had under-performed in a couple of ga-mes and we were struggling to get a result. To get that win was brilliant for Gareth and for the whole squad.

"People ask me what is it like to score a try at a packed Millennium Stadium. The roof was closed and it was an amazing feeling and everybody who saw it could see what it meant to me.

"I don't think it made any difference who the opposition was. The joy of it was that it was my first try for Wales."

But Horsman's score and the damage he did to the England front row in the scrum is particularly galling from a Red Rose perspective because the player represented the country of his birth through the age groups.

And his director of rugby at Sixways, John Brain, believes Horsman could have been wearing white on Saturday if a little gentle persuasion had been applied.

"I felt slightly vindicated watching that at the weekend after telling people involved with England some time ago that they should be interested in Chris," said Brain.

"He essentially made sure the Wales front five was dominant and iadmf he had been wearing a white jersey on Saturday, the game might have had a different dimension.

"I think he was outstanding. In the opening games, Wales weren't focused on the scrum and he wasn't able to dominate in the way he likes to."

After a spate of yellow cards in the early part of the season, Brain warned the tight-head to improve his disciplinary problems or risk losing his international place.

Horsman has clearly taken those words on board and his Warriors boss believes Wales reaped the benefits on Saturday.

"It was his best international appearance to date," said Brain. "He was disciplined - which can be a problem for him - and he was extremely focussed."

When Horsman returns to Sixways next week it will be to a club re-invigorated by three successive wins and the 30-year-old believes chairman Cecil Duckworth deserves much of the credit for not "pushing the panic button" after some fans called for Brain's head when the team slumped to eight straight defeats at the start of the season.

"The management have had a lot of stick this year because people feel passionately about the club and they are disillusioned," he said. "But a lot of people underestimate John Brain as a man and a rugby man. He is a strong character and a very intelligent man."