Lancaster pleased with Robshaw rest
England head coach Stuart Lancaster revealed Chris Robshaw was stung by his omission from the British and Irish Lions' tour to Australia, but believes he will have benefited from the break.
Robshaw has been reinstated as captain for the QBE Internationals against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand, reclaiming the role he relinquished to Tom Wood when he was rested for the summer tour to South America.
"It obviously hurt him, but it happened at a time when he had an opportunity to get away from rugby," Lancaster said.
"To be able to get abroad, get some sun on his back, put things in perspective and reflect on what he had done over the last 12 months meant he quite rightly came back having moved on.
"He's had to fight to get in the England side and he knows it's not something he can take for granted.
"He's had disappointments in the past but he's always come back from them."
Lancaster will continue to assess the captaincy throughout the countdown to the 2015 World Cup and hopes to create a group of players able to step into the role.
"Let's say it's the week before the World Cup, Chris breaks his leg and no-one else has captained England - it's quite a void to fill," he said.
"I look at the Richie McCaw-Kieran Read situation with New Zealand - when McCaw is out, Read steps in.
"It wouldn't be too hard to stretch the imagination to see something similar with us.
"I've not made any assurances beyond the QBE internationals and my mind-set is to make sure some other players have experience of captaining the team.
"It might happen by default because of injury, form or fitness, or it might happen by design, but at the moment there is no need to do that."
A quartet of former England captains spoke with the current squad during their training camp in Leeds with Fran Cotton, Roger Uttley, Bill Beaumont and Mike Harrison invited for dinner.
"I've talked for a while about how important an identity is in a team and I think that with England we've got an incredible history as a country and as a rugby team," Lancaster added.
"It's important for our players to understand some of the history behind the team.
"It's important for them to understand what these guys did when they played and how privileged they were to come and have dinner with our team.
"It brings a bit of perspective back to the players about what playing for England really means."
