It is good of Andy Gomarsall to spare the time for this interview. He must have been busy this week: all those flowers to send to those kind BBC people who choose the team captains at A Question of Sport, not to mention the hours spent repairing fist-sized holes in his ceiling after Matt Dawson's abrupt exit from the England training squad.

In fact, Gomarsall was at England's hotel in Bagshot on Monday when the news broke. Just as people remember where they were when John F Kennedy was shot, he will never forget the moment he learned Dawson had shot himself in the foot. "I was having lunch and Alex King told me," he recalls. "I was really shocked but at least I knew about it before the team meeting started."

Amid the kaleidoscope of emotions familiar to anyone who suddenly discovers a senior colleague is leaving, however, the 30-year-old Gomarsall also felt a twinge of dismay. Scrum-halves are invariably competitive and he insists he will miss the banter between himself, Dawson and Kyran Bracken now that England's eternal No9 triangle has resolved itself. "Honestly, it's not a case of rubbing my hands together. If anything, it probably adds a bit more pressure." For a second or two you almost believe him.

What is clear, however, is that Gloucester's smooth-passing No9 now has a potentially life-changing winter ahead of him, starting with today's crackling collision with Newcastle at Kingsholm. Leicester's Harry Ellis, eight years his junior, is a talent but people tend to forget Gomarsall is England's man in possession, having been picked ahead of Dawson in the last two Tests in New Zealand and Australia. After 17 caps he is no longer content to be the patient bench reserve picking splinters out of his tracksuit bottoms, as too often happened at the World Cup last year.

Barely had the final whistle sounded in the final in Sydney, for example, than his mind was already racing ahead to 2007. "The first thing I said to Andy Robinson in the showers was: 'It's great, we've won the World Cup but I want to be there for the next one, wearing the No9 shirt in the final'."

Gomarsall will be 33 by then, mature but hardly geriatric. "It's not that old in today's world. I certainly feel in better shape than I was when I was 21 and living as a student."

All he needs to do now is reproduce in an England jersey the authority and poise he showed for Gloucester during their stirring win at Northampton last week, when he and Duncan McRae ran the show from half-back.

Rarely has Gomarsall been given a consistent run of games at the highest level and, as a confidence player, he endorses his director of rugby Nigel Melville's view that this week's sudden reshuffle will do more than merely improve his selection chances. If all goes well, both men hope that being top dog will allow Gomarsall to show more of his true decision-making self than was the case when Dawson's familiar pick-and-go style effectively became England's modus operandi as well.

In common with several others, Gomarsall has already sensed a new atmosphere at England training this week with so many of the familiar monarchs of the glen having now given way to ambitious young bucks. "A lot of guys were saying they enjoyed it more, especially the younger ones. Somehow it just felt there wasn't so much pressure."

As the last man standing among England's senior scrum-halves, no one seems to be basking in this climate of fresh opportunity more than him.

Nor is he shy about projecting his own cause. "No, I don't think there is a better scrum-half than me in England, now Kyran and Matt are out of the picture. It's important to have your objectives and goals in life and my objective is still to be the best No9 in world rugby.

"Obviously to get to that stage I have to be the best in England but now I'm riding high I think it is a realistic aim. If I don't aim for it then I'm just going to be chasing mediocrity. I want to be the best in my position, not just in England but in the world."

Intriguingly, he insists Jonny Wilkinson, among his opponents today, would also benefit if the pair do get the nod from the acting head coach Robinson to face Canada on November 13. Despite making his Test debut as long ago as 1996, Gomarsall has started only one Test as Wilkinson's half-back partner, a remarkable statistic considering the latter now has 52 caps.

"I am looking forward, if the opportunity arises, to forming a partnership with him. I don't think he'll find anyone in the Premiership with a harder, faster or more accurate pass than mine. If England want to play with slightly more width, it would certainly give him more time."

But if Gomarsall has reason to be nice to Jonny today, he is in a minority. Two unbeaten, attack-minded sides, a record crowd at the newly-expanded Kingsholm and a history of acrimony between these teams should all ensure a seriously intense occasion. Gloucester, under the Kiwi fitness trainer Mike Anthony, looked fit and lean in midweek; even Phil Vickery, still a fortnight away from returning from back surgery, seems to have changed shape for the better.

In fact, on the day the Premiership celebrates its 1,000th game seven years after Gloucester's coach Dean Ryan led Newcastle in the inaugural fixture, it promises to be a rousing reminder of just how much English club rugby has grown up. For Gomarsall, in particular, there is no time like the present.