Robshaw to steer England ship

Chris Robshaw has been confirmed as captain of England for the rest of the Six Nations by coach Stuart Lancaster after steering the team to gritty wins in their first two matches.

The 25-year-old loose forward had played just one Test for England before this Six Nations, and after having led the national side to away wins over Scotland and Italy, the Harlequins' leader will next skipper the side against Wales at Twickenham Stadium on February 25.

Lancaster commented: "Chris has stepped into the role well and led a new team in two tough away fixtures. He is one of many leaders we could have chosen against Scotland and Italy but he has shown on and off the field the qualities required to captain a side. We feel it is right to make a call now that Chris will lead England for the rest of the Six Nations."

Robshaw said: "Captaining the team against Scotland was the proudest day of my life and to get the chance again against Italy was fantastic. To do so at Twickenham would be something else and I'm thankful to the coaches for giving me that opportunity and to all the lads for helping me over the last few weeks.

"For now I'm just focusing on training hard and helping us get ready to play a strong Welsh team," he added.

Meanwhile, 15 players will be available for Premiership Round 15 this weekend when they leave the England camp tonight.

Ben Morgan will also be available to the Scarlets for their Pro12 match against Leinster, while Tom Palmer has been training with Stade Francais for their Top 14 game against Toulon.

"It's important that we support the clubs and also that players get some game time so we can see where they are really up to in terms of fitness and form before we head into a Test week against an on-song Wales," Lancaster explained.