England captain Chris Robshaw encouraged by mental strength shown against Australia

Duncan Bech 19:16 02/12/2014
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  • Spring in his step: England captain Chris Robshaw believes England have a lot to work on if they are to be a force at next year's World Cup.

    Chris Robshaw believes England’s resilience during a gruelling autumn has proved they possess the mettle to survive the pressure-cooker environment of a home World Cup.

    A 26-17 victory over Australia on Saturday salvaged respectability from an otherwise disappointing QBE Series characterised by stagnation with the countdown to next year’s global showpiece now spanning only eight games.

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    Comprehensive defeats by New Zealand and South Africa on the opening two weekends extended their losing run to five Tests, placing the squad under a cloud that has only been partially lifted with success against Samoa and Australia.

    Toppling the Wallabies, who alongside Wales are group rivals at the World Cup, was imperative to stem the flow of criticism and England’s forward power and set-piece dominance delivered an autumn-saving victory.

    “Relief” was Robshaw’s reaction to the result and while the captain applauds the tenacity of his team-mates, he knows standards must improve if the hosts are to be a force at their own tournament.

    “The pressure hasn’t been a bad thing, it’s just great to see how we have responded to it,” said Robshaw, who was outstanding against Australia. “Now we know that if it happens again the guys aren’t going to crumble, they are going to stand up to it. They’re going to find ways of winning.

    “We all know we didn’t start well – for whatever reason, we’re not quite sure – but beating Australia was a great way to finish the series and that will give us confidence going into the Six Nations. If we had lost and looked back over this series having lost three out of four it would have been tough to take, especially with what’s happening next year.”

    Traditional strengths were enlisted to dispatch the Wallabies, who were pulverised at the scrum and throttled out of contention by the tight five, yet were immeasurably brighter in attack.

    Centres Matt Toomua and Adam Ashley-Cooper were magnificent, highlighting the limitations of England’s midfield of Billy Twelvetrees and Brad Barritt with their intelligent and incisive play.

    The Twelvetrees-Barritt axis is the third partnership in four games and while the rise of George Ford at fly-half is exciting and the emergence of wings Jonny May and Anthony Watson encouraging, the ongoing chaos at 12 and 13 is deeply worrying for the English.

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