Chris Robshaw learns to ignore British and Irish Lions snub, and won't reprise captaincy role in Dylan Hartley's absence

The former England captain has not spoken to Eddie Jones about missing out on the Lions or potentially filling in for Dylan Hartley if he's absent for their first game this summer

Chris Robshaw was not affected by his omission from the British and Irish Lions squad (Getty)

After missing out on the British and Irish Lions tour for a second successive time, you would understand if Chris Robshaw had grown a bit sick and tired of the talk that comes around the squad selection. He was England captain when he was overlooked by Warren Gatland in 2013, and he was in the form of his life for a year until a shoulder injury ruled him out of the recent Six Nations championship and took with it any hope of a call-up to tour New Zealand.

Instead of facing the All Blacks next month, Robshaw will head to Argentina with England for a two-Test tour that will not only give him the chance to win his place in the side back, but also help blood in the next generation that head coach Eddie Jones has decided to take on the trip.

“With stuff like that, it’s all out of your control isn’t it?” Robshaw said of his Lions snub while in Brighton for England’s training camp this week. “You can’t waste energy saying ‘of course you’d love to have gone and that sort of thing’ but you’re here, you are focused on that and you put all your energy on that. It’s like at a club, you might win one week, lose the following week but you’ve got to bounce straight back from that and go and go out there and achieve what you want to do.

“I think with setbacks in sporting life, whatever it is, it’s the people you surround yourself with – whether it’s family members, people at home, loved ones, whether it’s people at the club, coaches, friends, whatever it is – everyone has those groups. People respond differently. I think some guys want to get out there and train harder, some guys might sit back for a day or so and then get back into it.”

The former England captain was able to take his mind off the Lions selection relatively easily by focusing on Harlequins’ push to secure a place in next season’s European Champions Cup, something they achieved by finishing sixth in the Premiership table, to edge Northampton Saints into seventh and the Champions Cup play-offs. Should Saints come through their semi-final against Connacht, they will face either Challenge Cup winners Stade Francais or Cardiff Blues.

But more importantly, it would mean that captain Dylan Hartley would remain unavailable for next weekend’s exhibition match against the Barbarians on Sunday 28 May, meaning Jones would need to appoint a temporary skipper to lead what is set to be a stronger-than-normal side due to his desire to treat the match as an additional Test fixture. With Hartley a potential absentee, Jones is keen to find other areas of leadership, but while Danny Care, George Ford and Mike Brown have been nominated as vice-captains, Robshaw has had no such conversation, despite the 55 international caps to his name.

“I haven’t been asked. I’m not one of the vice-captains so I’d assume it would go to one of them,” Robshaw said. “I’ll help and use my experience but I’d probably be more of a voice in the forwards. I’m sure it would go to one of them.

“There are a lot guys who are missing and a lot of senior guys out there. But that gives other guys an opportunity. Look at someone like Marland Yarde who has been given that responsibility. He’s not necessarily the kind of person that you would look at in that leadership role but he comes in, he’s one of the experienced guys and that’s a great challenge for him. He can use his experiences to help the likes of Mike Haley or Denny Solomona and give them that leadership.”