No ambush in Cardiff this time, vows Chris Robshaw

Chris Robshaw insists England will be ready for anything fired-up Wales can throw at them during next month’s crucial Six Nations opener in Cardiff.
England were humiliated on their last visit to the Welsh capital in 2013, where the locals celebrated long into the night after Robshaw’s side suffered a traumatic 30-3 loss that denied them a Grand Slam and handed Wales the title instead.
Robshaw admits the hostility and magnitude of the occasion took England by surprise. But, two years on and with a home World Cup looming large on the horizon, the much more worldly-wise Red Rose captain is confident there will be no repeat.
He told The Rugby Paper: “It’s going to be another warm welcome in Cardiff, I’m sure, just as we received last time. But as a group we learnt a lot from that and having played in Ellis Park as well, they’re both similarly hostile environments.
“The Millennium Stadium was an eye-opener but these are the places you want to go. With a home World Cup to follow, there’s going to be a lot of pressure and scrutiny, so to go somewhere like that, where everything is so intense, will be great.
“Hopefully, it will get us in the right place for the year ahead. But when you go to places like that, at that level of rugby where you only get two or three chances in a game, you need to be clinical whether it’s in the first 10 seconds or at the end.
“Two years ago, Wales took their chances and we didn’t, but we’ll have quite a similar group of guys who were involved in that game and who’ve been on the receiving end and I’m confident we’ll have learned. We’ll be desperate to win.”
Robshaw admits three successive second place finishes in the Six Nations has frustrated him, adding: “A bad first five minutes and the bounce of the ball in Paris cost us a Grand Slam last year so we’re dying to win it this time.
“All the Northern Hemisphere sides played well in the autumn and everyone wants to finish top of the pile going into a home World Cup, because to have that extra bit of confidence knowing you can deliver in highly pressurised games is huge.
“Coming second three times in a row has been a tough one to take so this Six Nations is massive for England.”
England must negotiate the Six Nations without their autumn man of the series Ben Morgan, the No.8 having fractured a leg with Gloucester.
But Robshaw has thrown down the gauntlet to Billy Vunipola, while he would have no qualms over a call-up for Harlequins clubmate Nick Easter. “It’s devastating for Ben missing the Six Nations and he’s a huge loss, isn’t he? But that allows other guys to step in and impress,” Robshaw said.
“It’s great for Billy to come in there now and really stamp his mark, and that’s the privileged position we’re in with England where, if injuries do happen, we have two or three players in each position that can really excel.”
Of Easter, Robshaw adds: “From a Harlequins perspective Nick’s been fantastic. For him to play 250 games for his club and 47 for England means he doesn’t tend to miss games either.
“I’ve played in a lot of games alongside him and he’s always a great guy to have with you.”
Conor O’Shea’s decision to take the Harlequins captaincy away from Robshaw in World Cup year and hand it to Joe Marler raised eyebrows, not least from Lawrence Dallaglio who criticised the move as counter-productive.
But Robshaw hits back, saying: “Joe’s done a fantastic job, really growing into it over the last couple of months, and it’s been great captaining England and then being able to come back here and just focus on my own game.
“Of course I’ll continue to help Joe behind the scenes but he’s in charge of getting the guys going, doing the presentations and all the things like that.
“It has relieved the pressure on me, especially mentally. That’s the good thing about Conor, he’s always seen the bigger picture. He knows how stuff builds in highly pressurised environ- ments and the magnitude of what I’m involved in with England.
“Martin Johnson didn’t captain Leicester before the 2003 World Cup, Neil Back did, and while Brian O’Driscoll captained Ireland, it was Leo Cullen who captained Leinster when they were winning three Heineken Cups and being the best in Europe.”
Robshaw’s self-confidence is clearly growing but, at 28, even he admits that tension levels rose on New Year’s Eve as the clock struck midnight.
“All of a sudden the World Cup felt very real,” he said. “We are in 2015 now and the countdown is on, whereas before it always seemed a long way away and there was lots of rugby to be played. We’re close.
“You speak to rugby fans in the street and they can’t wait. As players, you try to contain yourself and concentrate on the here and now, which it has to be because we’ve all got huge games with our clubs, but suddenly the World Cup feels bigger.”
Former England scrum-half Peter Richards has revealed that the 2007 World Cup squad failed initially to cope with the weight of expectation.
But Robshaw believes the class of 2015 will be different, adding: “This group has gone out to enjoy its rugby.  You never know when playing in front of 80,000 people will stop. You have to savour these occasions every time.   That’s the challenge, but we’re ready for it.”
NEALE HARVEY