Burford hoping to top standout season

This season has been great for me in terms of personal performance and I think the highlight from that point of view was winning player of the match at Twickenham against France in the Autumn international. From a team perspective, that game saw us bounce back well after a really tough year, losing our Six Nations title and losing out on the Sevens World Cup and the NZ test series, but we made a statement in that particular game, the past was the past and we were only looking forward. The team's performance was outstanding and it was a turning point for us.

It's not too bad balancing both. I think for me both 15s and 7s complement each other and help progress my game whatever the format I am playing. This year I have taken a sabbatical from work so I have found it a lot easier this season to go between the two.

We are really pushing our limits at the moment and the exciting thing is that we still have loads of time to improve before the World Cup on all aspects. We are definitely working harder than ever before and we are certainly are not taking our foot of the pedal anytime soon. The attitude of the players is what drives it and we are all pushing each other hard - no one can hide. If you??re not working you will be found out and that goes for everything from nutrition, to rugby training, to strength and conditioning. This is how we want our environment to be.

I think there is opportunity for all areas of our game to improve whether that's tactically, technically or off pitch development. We are at a very high standard at the moment and training for the World Cup has allowed us more time than ever to train together, so the scope for improvement is huge.

I'm not training any more than before, but I have a lot more opportunity to rest and recover. Instead of all my mornings and evening being full of training, I can choose when I want to train. I haven't stopped work completely and I'm also at college studying, so I still need to manage my time well. One big difference is also being available to have medical treatment weekly and this makes a big difference to my body and my recovery between training and games.

On Thursdays, I'm up at around 5am to get to Lee Valley for around 7/8 depending on traffic and then I would get through a mobility session and then onto the track for a speed session followed by weights session both with my trainer. This will take between 2-2.5hrs and it??s followed by medical treatment with the physio and soft tissue therapist. Then I would drive back home, rest and have a good feed to recovery from the early session. If I only did one of the morning sessions then I would perform the other session in the evening. If it was in season I would then go club training in the evening at Thurrock.

I was totally honoured to just be nominated so then to go on a win the award was a magical moment for me. I can't thank my team mates enough for voting for me. It really is such an honour and very likely to be a once in a lifetime moment and I will cherish it.

I knew I had been consistent this season which is what I was most pleased with that I was able to keep my form from the autumn internationals and into 6 Nations. We had a very disappointing 2013 but we bounced back and playing so well at Twickenham. Sometimes you have to go through some really tough times to come together as we have.

I think this World Cup will be the toughest World Cup I have ever been to and I've been to a few! I think the competition across the world has developed so much and a lot of teams have full time Sevens players which will only raise the standards of teams like, America, Canada and Australia.

I think people should not get focused on just England and New Zealand because I think there will be upsets and surprises along the way. Samoa are totally unknown but I expect them to be a handful and ready to make a mark in Paris. Of course I can't forget France - they will be the biggest threat, on the back on winning the 6 Nations, they will have huge amounts of confidence going into the World Cup especially on their home turf.