CHRIS ROBSHAW ON…
...England’s back row choices
The depth is phenomenal. There’s ten to 20 guys who could play for England. I’m quite happy to sit on the sidelines and watch them battle it out. We saw Jack Willis take man of the match for Wasps against us on Monday. There are the two Curry boys (Tom and Ben), Sam Underhill, Ted Hill, Zach Mercer and that’s before you mention Billy Vunipola and Courtney Lawes. The Autumn Cup will be interesting.
...His blond hairstyle
“It was something I’d been wanting to try and we got a bit of time off so I decided to give it a go. It’s probably something my grandchildren will mention to me. Would I do it again? I don’t think so!”
Darren Clayton on life with Robshaw at Millfield
“He started off in the senior school as a 14-year-old loosehead prop because he was a big lump even then and the coach wanted him to play there. So he did, he always wanted to do his best for the team regardless of self. He was always the the fittest, strongest, hardest-working of our players. He switched to flanker a year later and we went virtually unbeaten for the next three seasons.
“The only school that gave us problems was Ivybrige. They had Steffon Armitage playing for them and he and Robbo used to have some dingdongs that carried on when Steffon joined London Irish and Robbo was at Quins.
“Robbo’s stamina and ability to endlessly put his body on the line was legendary. In Sevens the coach had him play every minute of every match in tournaments. He thrived on it. The coach said he was the only player he’d known who could do that.”
Darren says: “When we were U16 we went for Somerset trials and many of us got selected but not Robbo. We were dumbfounded. But, typical of the boucebackability Robbo has shown whenever he’s had setbacks in his career, he went on to be selected by England U18 two years later.”
His business interests...
Robshaw has a coffee bar in Winchester and part ownership of Zeus, an events company which stages rugby lunches and dinners, clay pigeon shoots and cycling tours. His wife Camilla is a highly successful recording artist and West End star, much sought after for singing national anthems and similar at major sporting and state events.