Harlequins captain Chris Robshaw breathed a huge sigh of relief after he and his teammates silenced the critics with a dramatic victory in Saturday’s Premiership final.
The Twickenham showpiece did not disappoint with Quins finally emerging 30-23 victors over Leicester, Robshaw scoring the all important second try and scooping the man of the match award.
That capped a remarkable season for the flanker that saw him go from missing out on a World Cup berth last autumn to being appointed England captain for the RBS 6 Nations, Premiership player of the year and now Premiership winner.
And the 25-year-old admitted this final success with Quins, who led the table since early September, was all the sweeter due to those who had doubted their title-winning credentials.
“Some people wrote us off and said we’re only there because of the World Cup,” he said. “We’ve proved them wrong.
“It is so surreal. We owe a lot of it to the fans. It’s so nice to repay them. It’s been about the squad all year, I think this squad has allowed us to fight on all fronts.”
“At the end it was nerve-wracking but that’s what we’ve been like this season.
“It was a bit difficult, especially when Ben Youngs went through. They scored off a few of our mistakes today but we held on.”
