England backrower Chris Robshaw believes his team is beginning to gain respect down under but it will all mean nothing if they can’t convert their opening Test win.
Robshaw, who captained England in last year’s Rugby World Cup, said the first up win had put them in the best possible position but their ultimate goal was to win the series.
“I think you look at the history about how many series have actually been won down here, around the three and now kind of four big countries down here and it shows how tough it is to come down here,” he said.
“We know we’re in a good position but it’s about how do we back that up every single day, every single training session.
“We want to improve and make each other better so we can seal the deal.
“Eddie (Jones) put it on the line as soon as we came down here and what we wanted to do.
“We wanted to win the series and that is the mindset. In our industry it’s about winning isn’t it.”
Robshaw says having the captaincy on someone else’s shoulders had given him more chance to focus on his own game but he still played a part in the team’s leadership.
“It’s been different. I’ve still got that Dylan needs a hand or talking about defence or around those types of lines,” he said.
“It’s just about going out there, trying to play as well as possible and doing your bit for the team.
“Everyone has a role to play can you do that to the best of your ability every time and hopefully more times than not.
“(When you’re not the captain), you have more time to focus on your own game and not worry about certain things.
“In terms of that (relieving pressure), I’m not sure."
As much as Robshaw’s role has changed since the World Cup, the opponents he’s facing off against also look set to present a different challenge, with David Pocock ruled out for up to eight weeks.
Robshaw said a new back row structure wouldn’t change his approach to the game, though.
“(He’s) one of the best seven, eights in the world,” he said.
“He’s caused us problems in this game and the game before and he’s a real threat over the ball and in slowing the opposition down.
“Our preparation will be the same, we’ll go about our business and we need to know every time we train we need to deal with the breakdown.
“They do have threats, whether it’s (Michael) Hooper, (Scott) Fardy, Pocock or one of the other guys who’ve come in, they’re all pretty talented at it, so our preparation will stay the same.”
