'We have had some incredible moments' - Chris Robshaw pens emotional open letter to fans
Departing Harlequins captain Chris Robshaw has said that winning the Premiership in 2012 was his “greatest moment”, after signing off his career in England on Sunday with a 32-26 victory over Leicester Tigers at Welford Road. Shortly after his 300th and final appearance in a Quins shirt, the 34-year-old shared a message addressed to everyone involved with the club in what he described as the “hardest day of [his] rugby career”.
In the video he thanked the club and the fans for the support throughout his career at the Stoop, which began in 2005.
The former England captain also singled out leading Quins to Premiership glory in 2012 as the standout moment in his club career.
After the London outfit topped the Premiership standings in the 2011/12 season, Robshaw steered his side to a 30-23 victory over Leicester in the Twickenham showcase, and even scored a try in the match. He recalled that day in his message, saying:
“We have had some incredible moments. Winning the Challenge Cup was unforgettable, but leading the team to the Premiership title was my greatest moment.
“I won't forget seeing thousands of you lining the streets as we walked over to Twickenham Stadium. Celebrating and singing together long into the night at the Stoop, are and always will remain some of my most cherished moments of my life.”
Robshaw also shared a photo of his final ever Harlequins shirt, with “300th game” emblazoned on it.
That milestone meant he is only the second player to play 300 games for the club, behind Mike Brown, having already made the most appearances as captain.
Having played his final game at the Stoop in the penultimate round of the season, this past week has been filled with farewells and tributes to the 66-cap Englishman before he joins Major League Rugby’s San Diego Legion.
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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