How would you lot rate Robshaw this series? He played every mintue but i remember him givig away a few pens and being out tackled by Underhill
Underhill for 6 in the future.
I've gathered some stats for this. I think everyone will agree here that Robshaw is a workhorse player, he makes high numbers of tackles and does nothing else; his carries are often ineffective and the tackles he makes aren't high impact tackles, he gets them down but never drives them back. Now I'm in no way against work horse players, every team needs a work horse however how much of a workhorse Robshaw actually is these days is questionable.
Argentina
Lawes - 24
Underhill - 21
Vunipola - 19
George (Bench) - 12
Kruis - 12
Robshaw - 11
Williams (Bench) - 10
Hughes - 9
Simmonds (Bench) - 9
Launchbury (Bench) - 8
Genge (Bench) - 7
Cole - 6
Hartley - 5
This was a poor game from Robshaw. To come 6th on the tackle count, behind 3 players that spent less time on the pitch (50 minutes less in George's case) is pretty dire, especially for a "work horse." Not only that, but he's made less than half as many tackles as the top tackler and only one more than a substitute tighthead and only 2 more than Simmonds who spent 10 minutes on the pitch. In this game you have to say he didn't at all earn his shirt; considering that Simmonds is also a far more effective carrier, it would've been far better to start him at 6.
Australia
Launchbury - 19
Itoje (Bench) - 16
Robshaw - 11
Hartley - 9
Lawes - 9
Vunipola - 7
Hughes - 7
George (Bench) - 5
Cole - 5
Marler (Bench) - 2
Simmonds (Bench) - 2
Underhill - 2
Williams (Bench) - 0
This was a better game from Robshaw but still, IMO, not good enough. He's been largely outscored by the two players above him (one of which came off the bench) and is only just beating Hartley who spent 30 minutes less time on the pitch, and is a front rower. If you once again compare Robshaw to Simmonds, Simmonds once again spent 10 minutes on the pitch and made 2 tackles. Robshaw spent 80 minutes on the pitch and made 11 tackles, so 1.375 tackles every 10 minutes. Again, defensively he's been outdone by the reserve back rower and doesn't offer as much as him in attack either and once again, has not earned his shirt.
Samoa
Simmonds - 14
Robshaw - 14
Ewels - 10
George - 9
Lawes (Bench) - 9
Itoje - 7
Cole - 5
Launchbury - 5
Marler (Bench) - 4
Williams (Bench) - 2
Genge - 1
Hartley (Bench) - 1
Isiekwe (Bench) - 1
This was Robshaw's best game. He's tied for top tackler along with Simmonds, who is who I've been directly comparing him to. However, whereas Robshaw only made 10 carries and 32 metres, Simmonds made 18 carries and 96 metres. Simmonds got through the same amount of work defensively and got through far more offensively.
Tackles per minutes played
Vunipola - 0.31
Underhill - 0.24
Launchbury - 0.24
George - 0.24
Williams - 0.24
Simmonds - 0.23
Kruis - 0.21
Lawes - 0.20
Itoje - 0.16
Ewels - 0.16
Robshaw - 0.15
Genge - 0.14
Hughes - 0.12
Hartley - 0.11
Cole - 0.08
Marler - 0.06
Isiekwe - 0.06
This speaks for itself. With a few of our locks able to play back row, EJ has lumped locks and back rowers together into the "Back 5" category. Of this back 5 category, Robshaw has been beaten by Underhill, Launchbury, Simmonds, Kruis, Lawes, Itoje and Ewels, all of which offer more offensively. I don't see how his place in the XV can be justified.
