Robshaw takes on captaincy critics
Looking down on the capital, the significance of the task facing England captain Chris Robshaw at the World Cup next year becomes even clearer.
Riding beside Robshaw on the London Eye is the man he is trying to emulate: Martin Johnson, who lifted the trophy as England captain in 2003.
And joining them on this sunny day, passing on their rugby insight, is the next generation of players.
"It's a great reminder how a team can really inspire and give these guys a lift," Robshaw told The Associated Press.
"I remember being at school, watching Johnno play, especially that World Cup Final, and after that all the kids putting tops on, practicing drop-goals or dazzling runs."
Robshaw hopes he can help spark another surge in the game's popularity during the World Cup hosted by England in 12 months' time.
But to read English media and social media recently, Robshaw doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the England team.
His low-profile display two weeks ago in Harlequins' 0-39 loss to Saracens, one of his first outings in a nine-month season, renewed criticism and doubt about his role not only as England captain, but also as first-choice openside flank.
Robshaw's club coach, Conor O'Shea, who relieved Robshaw of the club captaincy to lighten his load, blasted the critics for being "cheap, uneducated and ill-informed."
Johnson backs Robshaw.
"In this country, at times we are our own worst enemies because we endlessly speculate – let's get behind our team and have a crack. Maybe if the team has got the right thing about them they will rally round the captain and say, 'We look after our own … and we get on with it'."
Johnson, as England coach, made the tough call to omit Robshaw from the ill-fated 2011 World Cup squad, but coaching successor Stuart Lancaster made Robshaw his skipper from the get-go, and Johnson has been impressed.
"He has fronted up and played well in tough games," Johnson said. "It's when things aren't going well you need people to stand up, and he has generally done that."
It is Robshaw's integrity that Johnson, one of England's greatest captains, likes so much.
"There's no point reading some captaincy book and trying to be some kind of something you aren't, because people see through that."
As the figurehead of a team going for World Cup glory on home turf next year, Robshaw believes he's up for handling all that it demands.
"It's about being sensible, and taking a break from that kind of pressure," he said. "But also it's about enjoying it. How many opportunities do you get to have a home World Cup?
"There's always going to be extra pressure with the captaincy. It's something you get used to … and you always want to go out there and prove people wrong no matter what. You always want to bounce back."
England has had to bounce back quite a bit on the Lancaster-Robshaw watch, having won 16 tests and lost 11. It has been runner-up in the last three Six Nations, losing the last two on points difference.
In mid-year the team was whitewashed in a three-test series by the All Blacks, who return to play at Twickenham in November.
"Unfortunately things were a little bit unsettled the way things finished up in the June Tests," Robshaw said.
"The last result always lingers with you a little bit longer … but we have debriefed and moved on.
"We seem to be better every time we meet up as a squad, we seem to be evolving and getting that more experienced, developing each other and challenging each other in the right way."
The last time England hosted the cup, in 1991, it made the Final. The team's return to respectability, allied to home ground advantage, mean the minimum goal must be the 2015 semifinals.
The World Cup buzz is becoming harder to escape, and even the kids analysing game footage for advice from Robshaw and Johnson on the London Eye, want to know how it will end.
"Most of the questions the kids wanted to know, 'Who is the strongest?'" Robshaw said.
The answer Robshaw will be hoping to deliver next October: England.
Source: AP
