World Cup gloom a distant memory for revived Robshaw

By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Chris Robshaw thought his career was shot after England's miserable World Cup last year and on Saturday the former captain was left pinching himself after a man-of-the-match performance in Melbourne helped seal the series against Australia. The 30-year-old flanker was inspirational in his 50th test match, a linchpin in England's wall-like defence that fended off the Wallabies 23-7 to wrap up their first series win on Australian soil with a game in hand. Only seven months ago, he wondered whether he would be selected for England again after copping huge flak for the side's group phase exit at their home World Cup. At the tournament, Robshaw was condemned for a decision to wave away a penalty chance in the final minutes of the loss against Wales, which could have earned the hosts a draw. Instead, England were forced into a do-or-die match against Australia and were promptly thrashed 33-13. "It was a pretty tough part of my career," Robshaw told reporters at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. "My partner, Camilla, was fantastic at bringing me back from those tough times; my family, the coaches, the players, too. "It was tough but this series wasn't about the World Cup, that has been and gone." The man that took over from sacked England coach Stuart Lancaster after the World Cup did not see Robshaw as a captain or even outstanding in any way at test level. Australian Eddie Jones, who was coach of Japan during the tournament, wrote in a British newspaper column that Robshaw was "an outstanding club player but at international level he just doesn't have that point of difference." Jones dumped Robshaw as captain, installing abrasive hooker Dylan Hartley as skipper, but retained the Harlequins man in his back row. After playing openside flanker for years under Lancaster, Robshaw was switched back to the blindside and formed a formidable partnership with James Haskell and number eight Billy Vunipola during England's Six Nations triumph. Despite that, Robshaw arrived in Australia as a figure of fun in promotional videos for the series by host broadcaster Fox Sports which mocked his anguish during the World Cup. After a starring role in Melbourne during his 50th test, Robshaw had every right to crow about the triumph over the old enemy but he was instead focused on finishing the job in Sydney next week. "(The World Cup) was a tough part of my career but I'm enjoying it at the moment, playing and training alongside these guys, wanting to be better, trying to impress them and prove to them that you deserve to be in there," he said. "We are in a good place at the moment. "Playing one of the best attacking sides in world rugby, on their own patch, we knew it would be tough and we can't wait until next week to finish it off properly." (Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)