England
Conor O'Shea hits out at 'cheap jibes' levelled at Robshaw
ESPN Staff
November 25, 2015

Harlequins coach Conor O'Shea has hit out at the "cheap jibes" levelled at Chris Robshaw and has backed the back-rower to feature in Eddie Jones' England squad.

Robshaw captained England in the World Cup and came in for plenty of flak when they bowed out in the pool stages but his club coach O'Shea has hit out at the critics and praised Robshaw for not biting back at the jibes thrown in his direction.

"You can see I get irritated by it because I'm unbelievably protective of someone I think deserves a heck of a lot more than some of the cheap jibes that have been directed at him," O'Shea said in the Guardian. "He was always going to be on a hiding to nothing in the World Cup. I think as a rugby player, a bloke and a role model we should be very proud we've had somebody like Chris.

"He could easily have reacted, have come out and said some spiteful things back to people. He could have said what he thought. I could have said what I thought about some of the people who were talking about him. But he didn't. He kept his counsel, he's done what he's always done and he's got on with it. Some people have said they'd like to see him come out and say something but that just creates a headline and ill will."

Chris Robshaw
Chris Robshaw© Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Jones will meet with Robshaw over a coffee to hear his thoughts on the World Cup as he weighs up who will make the cut in his first Elite Player Squad. Jones has previously said in his mind Robshaw "at international level doesn't have that point of difference" but backtracked on those comments when he was unveiled last Friday saying he was being "naughty".

O'Shea says if Robshaw is not retained as England captain "that's not a headline" but adds Robshaw still desperately wants to be a part of the England set-up and the Harlequins coach says he can go toe-to-toe with some of the best opensides in the world.

"I think he's just an outstanding rugby player," O'Shea said of Robshaw. "He's proven that. He's beaten Richie McCaw and the All Blacks ... he's beaten Sam Warburton in individual battles. I'll pick the positives, some will pick the negatives.

"Opinions are very short term in sport. One day you can be a hero, the next you are zero. As [former Harlequins and England coach] Dick Best put it: 'From back stabbing to back slapping it's only a heartbeat.' By the time the Six Nations comes around everybody will be talking it up, whoever is playing for England. That's the way it is in sport. You get on with it.

"If we're achieving and right up the top end [of the Aviva Premiership table] I've no doubt Chris Robshaw will be in the team."

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