Robshaw the renaissance man back from brink
Ex-captain has reinvented himself as blindside flanker World Cup woes forgotten in 50th cap for England
The inspirational poem that Paul Gustard, England’s defence coach, read to the squad to set the tone of the preparations ahead of yesterday’s historic second Test victory in Melbourne had a special resonance for Chris Robshaw.
“The Man in the Glass”, written in 1934 by Peter Wimbrow Snr, challenges the reader to look at himself in the mirror and says his final lifetime reward will be “heartache and tears, if you’ve cheated the man in the glass”.
In a season that included the humiliation of England’s World Cup poolstage exit and then losing the captaincy after four years, Robshaw could be forgiven for wondering if the man in the glass was indeed his friend.
Yet yesterday, at the AAMI Stadium in Melbourne, the flanker who publicly bore the brunt of England’s World Cup nightmare last October completed one of the most remarkable journeys of redemption. Having reinvented himself as a blindside flanker following Eddie Jones’s appointment in December, after four seasons at openside, Robshaw delivered a man-of-the-match display in one of England’s most heroic defensive rearguard displays since the victory over New Zealand in Wellington in 2003.
His match statistics show that the 30-year-old made 18 of England’s 169 tackles (to Australia’s 49) and made four carries, with a combined total of 27 metres made.
But those cold hard facts do not do justice to the influence he had on the contest, made even more special on his 50th cap for England after having made his debut against Argentina in 2009.
Robshaw was, quite simply, immense. He might have been fortunate to have avoided a yellow card for tackling Nick Phipps around the neck, sparking a full-on brawl that left Dan Cole stripped bare of his shirt.
Yet his work-rate, positioning, turnovers and relentless defence set the tone for one of England’s greatest performances.
Robshaw related Gustard’s poem to their defensive display in the first Test in Brisbane, when Australia scored four tries to England’s three – even though it ended in an 11-point victory for his team.
Yet given that he has also found himself at the centre of television promotional clips by the host broadcaster in Australia, mocking England’s World Cup campaign, it is hard not to see it in a broader context.
“It was along similar lines to when we let ourselves down last week and the only people we had to prove something to was ourselves and our teammates,” Robshaw said. “It was about, individually, after the game, can we look at ourselves, look at each other and I think today we can.
“Last week we felt, as a team, that we were pretty rusty and let ourselves down. We are a team who pride ourselves on our defence so this week we had a massive focus on what we had to do and areas to improve.
“I think it showed today because they had a huge amount of possession but you look at the character of the guys; getting up, making double tackles, getting back in the line, working – especially that passage before halftime.
“That pretty much summed up the game, I think. We kicked it off thinking that was time – it was up on the [stadium] clock. So to defend then for around 20 phases… we didn’t take a backward step last week, we didn’t today and we won’t again next week. That has been the mindset from day one.”
Yet in December Robshaw was not even sure if he had an Test future. Jones has shown a ruthlessness in his selection after taking over from Stuart Lancaster and had criticised Robshaw in his Daily Mail column.
“It was a pretty tough part of my career,” Robshaw added. “My partner, Camilla, was fantastic at bringing me back from those tough times; my family, the coaches, the players too.
“It was tough but this series wasn’t about the World Cup; that has been and gone. It was a tough part of my career but I’m enjoying it at the moment, playing and training alongside these guys, wanting to be better, trying to impress them and prove to them that you deserve to be in there. We are in a good place at the moment.”
That good place included an emotional team meeting on Friday night when members of the squad took a moment to pay tribute to him.
“It does mean a lot,” Robshaw said. “The meeting meant a lot to me too – there were some kind words from the players. It was extremely touching. They have been so supportive.
“At one point I was unsure whether I would ever get my second cap, so to now be out there with 50 caps – it was an extremely proud moment for me. In an outstanding game, it was a great way to celebrate it.
“Playing one of the best attacking sides in world rugby, on their own patch, we knew it would be tough and we can’t wait until next week to finish it off properly.”