Chris Robshaw has admitted that Englandâs Grand Slam nightmare changed him as a captain.
Robshaw confessed all as head coach Stuart Lancaster picked an all-new front row to face Argentina – hooker Dylan Hartley and props Joe Marler and David Wilson.
Saturdayâs game will be Hartleyâs first England start since he was sent off in last seasonâs Premiership Final for allegedly calling the referee a âf***ing cheatâ.
Wasps wing Christian Wade is earmarked as a fourth change to the side which beat Australia.
But despite last weekendâs win it is Englandâs crushing loss to Wales in March which continues to drive the skipper.
Robshaw, 27, was favourite to captain the British and Irish Lions but, following the massacre at the Millennium, he failed even to make the squad that defeated Australia in the summer.
Head coach Warren Gatland instead chose fellow back-row Sam Warburton as skipper – and, pointedly, praised the way the Welshman managed the referee against England.
âItâs the ability Sam has to communicate with referees,â Gatland explained. âWhen I saw that against England it really stuck in my mind that this guy could do a job for us and potentially have a positive influence on the game with his relationship with referees.â
Robshaw licked his wounds over the summer and returned with a different philosophy which he unveiled last weekend.
He admits he has overhauled the way he communicates with match officials – now subscribing to the belief that less is more.
âItâs probably a couple of things, rather than a lot,â he said. âIdentifying a couple of key things in the game rather than trying to work every possible angle.
âIf you think back to the Wales game, we didnât have the front-foot ball we did against Australia. We were chasing and maybe looking for angles that werenât there.â
So effective was Robshawâs dialogue with George Clancy last Saturday that it was Australia who the Irish ref ordered to stop âappealingâ.
The challenge facing Robshaw and his team is to remain in the officialâs good books whilst maintaining the same intensity against Argentina that they mustered for the Wallabies.
âIâm sure there wonât be any drop-off,â said the Red Rose’s skipper, without appearing to cross his fingers. âThe team has trained well. The guys are intense and purposeful. They know what they have to do to get a result.
âWeâve looked at last weekendâs performance and we werenât exactly happy. We were a little bit rusty. That is a good place for us because even though we won, we wanted so much more out of the game.
âWe left opportunities out there and weâve got to make sure we take them. We donât want to wait 45 minutes again to play with the ball.â
England (vs Argentina) Brown; Ashton, Tomkins, Twelvetrees, Wade; Farrell, Dickson; Marler, Hartley, Wilson, Launchbury, Lawes, Wood, Robshaw (capt), B Vunipola.
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Article source: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/441003/Centre-stage-for-England-debutant-Luther-Burrell
England"s Chris Robshaw has learned to shut up around referees after his ...
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