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Lancaster backs captain Robshaw

ChrisRobshawEngSco12SB
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has thrown his weight behind captain Chris Robshaw after the 26-year-old admitted making the ‘wrong call’ to kick a penalty at goal in the dying minutes against South Africa.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster has thrown his weight behind captain Chris Robshaw after the 26-year-old admitted making the ‘wrong call’ to kick a penalty at goal in the dying minutes against South Africa.

The flanker, who led England during this year’s RBS 6 Nations, was criticised for deciding to take the three points as England trailed 16-12 at Twickenham with only a couple of minutes left on the clock.

Two penalties from Toby Flood and two from Owen Farrell had got England to within a try of the win following Willem Alberts’ fortuitous score when Robshaw gambled on three points rather than kicking for a line-out.

The decision did not pay off as England were unable to gather the restart and England lost their second autumn international on the spin following their 20-14 defeat to Australia.

With New Zealand next up on Saturday, Robshaw’s record as captain now stands at won five and lost five but Lancaster insist the team needs to look at itself as a collective rather than focusing on their leader.

“We’re all in it together and that’s the fundamental of teams,” he said.

“The most important thing is we backed the captain and the players are 100per cent behind him.

“International sport’s tough and it puts pressure on you as a leader.

“Games are never won on one decision. There were lots of little decisions that put us in that position and meant we were chasing the game.

“But it was a much improved performance from us against a pretty good side.”