New England captain Robshaw won his only cap over two years ago

NEW England captain Chris Robshaw has admitted he has never before set foot inside Murrayfield as he prepares to lead his country out there in just his second Test match.

Robshaw was officially unveiled yesterday as England’s skipper for their opening two RBS Six Nations matches, despite having earned just a single cap – more than two-and-a-half years ago.

After forcing his way back into the squad in the wake of last year’s World Cup debacle, the 25-year-old Harlequins captain now finds himself thrown right in at the deep end, charged with bringing the Calcutta Cup back from Edinburgh in Saturday’s championship opener.

“At the moment, I’m quite relaxed about the whole process,” he said. “But I’m sure come Thursday, Friday, I’ll probably get a bit more nervous. It’s one of those places I’ve never actually been to. As a rugby player, you want to play on the big stage. It is a daunting place and it is going to be very tough – but it’s one everybody’s looking forward to.”

Robshaw was not interim head coach Stuart Lancaster’s first choice as skipper, but saw off competition from Dylan Hartley and Tom Croft after Tom Wood picked up a toe injury. Fellow flanker Wood could yet reclaim the honour, with Robshaw only guaranteed the job against Scotland and Italy, and he admitted being handed the armband had capped a whirlwind month.

“It was a bit of a surreal moment,” he said. “When Stuart told me, he told me not to tell anyone for half an hour.

“I had to go to my room and was so happy and smiling. It has taken me a couple of years just to break into it [the squad].

“I’ve got a great bunch of lads around me, the whole squad, but especially the leaders, whether that’s Dylan Hartley up front, Ben Foden at the back. It won’t be a dictatorship by any means.

“A lot of these guys have played a lot more than me and have been to these stadiums, so they’ve got this experience which they can pass on not only to myself but the others.”

Robshaw expects to be targeted by a Scotland side keen to avenge their World Cup defeat to England.

“That’s something I can’t control,” he said. “Of course, there’ll be external factors, from them and the crowd and the weather conditions. But we can just focus on what we can and hopefully getting our game on to the pitch.”

Robshaw is no rookie when it comes to the art of captaincy and has learned plenty from his 18 months with the armband at Harlequins. “When I first got it, I was trying to do too much,” he said. “I remember in our first training session, I was getting a bit stressed and trying to run too many things. You forget what got you there in the first place – playing well, leading by example. Once I got back to that, everything fitted.”

Robshaw was Lancaster’s captain for England Saxons last season and the interim head coach insisted the flanker’s elevation was no more a gamble than his own.

“I guess it’s a bit of a risk to put an interim head coach in and let him get on with it,” he said. “My philosophy is that if you believe the person has got the leadership ability to do the role well then he should be given the opportunity. It’s a similar situation to myself, to be perfectly honest.”