Chris Robshaw will hold on to the England captaincy for the remainder of the RBS 6 Nations
England have confirmed that Harlequins back-rower Chris Robshaw will hold on to the captain’s armband for the remainder of the RBS 6 Nations tournament. He has already led the team to two away wins, over Scotland and Italy, on just his second and third international caps. He will next lead the team against Wales on Saturday 25 February, his first run out for England at Twickenham.
Head coach Stuart Lancaster said: “Chris has stepped into the role well and led a new team in two tough away fixtures. He is one of many leaders we could have chosen against Scotland and Italy but he has shown on and off the field the qualities required to captain a side. We feel it is right to make a call now that Chris will lead England for the rest of the RBS 6 Nations.”
Robshaw added: “Captaining the team against Scotland was the proudest day of my life and to get the chance again against Italy was fantastic. To do so at Twickenham would be something else and I’m thankful to the coaches for giving me that opportunity and to all the lads for helping me over the last few weeks. For now I’m just focusing on training hard and helping us get ready to play a strong Welsh team.”
Meanwhile, 16 players have been made available to play for their club sides this weekend. Lancaster added: “It’s important that we support the clubs and also that players get some game time so we can see where they are really up to in terms of fitness and form before we head into a Test week against an on-song Wales.”
Players to be made available for Aviva Premiership/RaboDirect Pro 12/Top 14 Orange
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Calum Clark (Northampton Saints)
Paul Doran Jones (Northampton Saints)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
Ben Morgan (Scarlets)
Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
Matt Stevens (Saracens)
Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins)
Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)
Rob Webber (London Wasps)