Chris Robshaw has urged his players to confound their critics against Australia on Saturday but admits England’s progress has stalled with less than 10 months to go before next year’s Rugby World Cup. England will drop to fifth in the world rankings if they lose to the Wallabies, having started the month third.
Robshaw, whose side have already been beaten at home by New Zealand and South Africa, is well aware an additional loss to the Wallabies would further shake the public’s confidence and accepts England badly need to re-establish some momentum before they travel to Wales for the opening match of the 2015 Six Nations championship in early February.
“If we lose on Saturday, we will view this as a poor autumn campaign,” acknowledged Robshaw. “To lose three games out of four at Twickenham, all to southern hemisphere teams, would be tough to take for all the guys. I do not think we’ve gone backwards but we haven’t moved forward at the pace we were moving at during the last autumn series or the last Six Nations.
“It’s about giving the guys the confidence that we can beat these teams. Our next game will be in the Millennium Stadium and that’s going to be an extremely tough and difficult fixture in itself. In terms of that, this game is huge. You want to make sure you have confidence going into it.”
Robshaw, however, still believes a lot can change between now and next year’s World Cup, when England and Australia are due to meet at Twickenham in the pool stages. “Especially at Twickenham, we want to make sure we win for the bigger picture of what’s coming. But there’s a long time to go. In a year’s time it will be about what happens on that day.
“It’s about making sure that every day in that tournament you turn up to the best of your ability and hopefully with all your players as fit as they can be. Look at what happened before the 2007 World Cup. England beat South Africa the previous autumn before losing to them twice during the tournament.
“I’m sure we’ll speak about the pride we have in playing at home but it’s about this campaign and finishing this series on a high.”
All concerned, however, can already sense the rising levels of public expectation and the extra pressure that is associated with it. “We have spoken about it,” said Robshaw. “We definitely feel throughout this campaign that all the outside stuff has built up more than in previous campaigns. Will the pressure continue to build and build? I’m sure it will.
“Guys can get fed up with it if they are being scrutinised all the time. But do I see it affecting a lot of them? No, I don’t. I see guys being able to distance themselves from the negativity coming their way. It’s about embracing it. They know they are in an extremely privileged position to be able to put on the shirt. Ask any team in the world if they believe they should be expected to win at home and they’ll say yes.”
Both England and Australia will confirm their lineups on Thursday, with Billy Twelvetrees and Brad Barritt set to form England’s fifth different centre pairing in six Tests.
Much will also depend on the battle of the breakdown, with Robshaw in direct opposition to the Wallabies captain, Michael Hooper. “I think you always look at key individuals in the opposition and their captain is one of their key guys,” confirmed Robshaw.
“Of course, he is very good over the ball, but I also believe his link play, getting the ball out of contact and keeping it alive, is a big factor. He’s one of the heartbeats of the Australia side. Our job is to identify these guys and shut them down efficiently when they get the ball.”
Robshaw also wants the home pack to crank things up in other areas. “In terms of set piece we have been pretty good this campaign but there are still areas to address. Around the pitch we haven’t been as efficient or dominant as we’d have liked, or have been in previous campaigns.”