Chris Robshaw: ‘There is always extra spice when England play Australia’

England’s official position as the world’s second-best team hangs in the balance at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon. A win for Australia would not only be enough to take the Wallabies above their hosts in the World Rugby rankings but also bring an abrupt end to England’s unblemished home record under Eddie Jones.

To date England have won all 11 of their home Tests since Jones took charge, nine of them by double-figure margins. The world champions, New Zealand, are not on that list but Chris Robshaw, a member of the England squad which cracked under the pressure of a home World Cup in 2015, believes Twickenham is once again becoming an extremely difficult place for any visiting team to play.

“You want your home ground to be a tough place to come,” said Robshaw, aware the current team still have a way to go to match Clive Woodward’s World Cup-winning squad, who went 22 home games unbeaten between 1999 and 2003. “If an opposing team enjoys playing there, it probably isn’t the place you think it is. If we can make it that kind of fortress again, it will be great.”

Robshaw was the England captain when Australia won 33-13 at Twickenham to knock the host nation out of the 2015 tournament’s pool stage but the Harlequins flanker will require no further motivation this time beyond the glimpse of a green and gold jersey.

“There is always a bit of extra spice because you are playing the Aussies. As a kid you grow up watching these games in various sports and to be part of it is pretty special.

“There tend to be quite a few Aussies in London and Twickenham is going to be rocking. There are a lot of fixtures which mean a lot but the England–Aussie sporting rivalry is brilliant.

“Eddie gives you the confidence and that bullish approach to go out there and perform. Especially at home you want to be on the front foot. We have to up our game in all facets from last weekend and start with great intensity. It’s going to be a great game of rugby.”

If anyone requires further incentive, Robshaw will point them in the direction of last year’s series whitewash in Australia “For a lot of us who had never actually won in the southern hemisphere, winning that series 3-0 against Australia was pretty special.”

This autumn’s target is to achieve a similar clean sweep, with next week’s game against Samoa completing the autumn series. “We always need to win regardless of how we are playing and our goal in this series is to win it 3-0,” Robshaw said. “We train like it’s a Test in midweek so Saturday is easier. Train harder than you play is Eddie’s mind-set.”

To keep England’s players on their toes Jones has also adjusted this week’s training schedule to try to replicate the logistics of travelling within Japan in 2019.

“That’s the good thing about this management – they are always looking for small improvements,” Robshaw said. “They don’t normally do something without a reason. What that reason is we’re not always sure – it is bloody hard at times I can tell you – but they’re always looking to get those marginal gains.

“Eddie has been to cycling and to various football clubs to see what they do. The big goal is that 2019 World Cup and to be in the best possible shape for that.”