England
Chris Robshaw wants England to get back on track against Ireland
ESPN Staff
August 31, 2015
© Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

Chris Robshaw has called on England to get their World Cup build-up back on track against Ireland this weekend and has hailed the balance in the side.

England were poor in Paris and fell to France 25-20 in their previous warm-up match. Since then Stuart Lancaster has named his 31-man squad for the World Cup confirming Robshaw will captain England into the forthcoming tournament.

With the World Cup just 18 days away, some players will be mindful of not picking up any injuries that could see them ruled out of the tournament. But Robshaw says England must go into the Ireland match at full throttle to get some momentum heading into their World Cup opener against Fiji on September 18.

"We're back at Twickenham and we're looking forward to that," Robshaw said. "The guys will be a little bit more at ease and not trying things as much because there's no longer the selection question hanging over them."

He added: "We don't really consider these games friendlies, we treat them as proper Test matches. Every guy is going to go full whack. We want to build momentum and you want to know you can beat the best sides out there. You don't think about injuries. If it happens it would be extremely tough but it wouldn't be something the guys are thinking about. Everyone knows that, from now on, whatever we do is for the good of the side."

Tom Wood and Geoff Parling are expected to feature in the pack for England with the centre partnership likely to see Brad Barritt and Jonathan Joseph paired at No.12 and No.13 respectively. All eyes will be on England on Saturday to see how the World Cup hosts are faring and Robshaw believes they have enough strength in the squad to win the tournament.

"Yeah, I believe so. There are enough guys who have played in big games in various competitions who have dealt with pressure. There is also a lot of youth in there which brings excitement. The balance is very good. You look around at the guys you're going to go into battle with and you're confident in them."

© ESPN Staff

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.