Robshaw to remain England captain

CHRIS ROBSHAW will captain England for the remainder of the Six Nations tournament, caretaker coach Stuart Lancaster said yesterday.

“Chris has stepped into the role well and led a new team in two tough away fixtures,” he said in a statement.

“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 Six Nations.”

Robshaw captained England for the first time against Scotland this month in only his second senior appearance, replacing Lewis Moody who retired from international rugby after last year’s World Cup.

Under the 25-year-old flanker’s captaincy, England have notched up away wins against Scotland (13-6) and Italy (19-15). Their next match is against Wales on February 25th at Twickenham.

“Captaining the team against Scotland was the proudest day of my life and to get the chance again against Italy was fantastic,” said Robshaw.

“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.”

Lancaster has made 16 players available for club duty this weekend, including Manu Tuilagi, Toby Flood and Courtney Lawes who are all coming back from injury.

Ben Morgan is available for the Scarlets after making a substantial impact off the bench against Italy last weekend.

Tom Palmer – the only member of England’s starting XV to be released for club duty – is set to feature for Stade Francais against Toulon.

England players released for club duty this weekend: M Brown (Harlequins), C Clark (Northampton Saints), P Doran Jones (Northampton Saints), T Flood (Leicester Tigers), C Lawes (Northampton Saints), J Marler (Harlequins), L Mears (Bath Rugby), B Morgan (Scarlets), T Palmer (Stade Francais), C Sharples (Gloucester Rugby), J Simpson (London Wasps), M Stevens (Saracens), M Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), J Turner-Hall (Harlequins), T Waldrom (Leicester Tigers), R Webber (London Wasps).