Chris Robshaw has been confirmed as England captain for the remainder of the RBS Six Nations Championship.
Quins forward has impressed in Edinburgh and Rome
Chris Robshaw has been confirmed as England captain for the remainder of the RBS Six Nations Championship by interim head coach Stuart Lancaster.
The Harlequins flanker has led England to away victories over Scotland and Italy in the first two rounds of the tournament.
He was initially appointed for just those two games, but Lancaster confirmed on Wednesday morning that Robshaw will continue in the role.
Lancaster said: "Chris has stepped into the role well and led a new team in two tough away fixtures.
"He is one of many leaders we could have chosen against Scotland and Italy but he has shown on and off the field the qualities required to captain a side.
"We feel it is right to make a call now that Chris will lead England for the rest of the Six Nations."
Remarkably, the 25-year-old Robshaw had played just one Test for England before this Six Nations, against Argentina in Salta in June 2009.
Robshaw said: "Captaining the team against Scotland was the proudest day of my life and to get the chance again against Italy was fantastic.
"To do so at Twickenham would be something else and I'm thankful to the coaches for giving me that opportunity and to all the lads for helping me over the last few weeks.
"For now I'm just focusing on training hard and helping us get ready to play a strong Welsh team."
England's next fixture is against Wales - with whom they share top spot in the table - at Twickenham on February 25.
Meanwhile, Lancaster has made 16 players available for club duty this weekend, including Manu Tuilagi, Toby Flood and Courtney Lawes who are all coming back from injury.
Ben Morgan is available for the Scarlets after making a substantial impact off the bench against Italy last weekend.
Tom Palmer - the only member of England's starting XV to be released for club duty - is set to feature for Stade Francais against Toulon.
England players released to their clubs: M Brown (Harlequins), C Clark (Northampton Saints), P Doran Jones (Northampton Saints), T Flood (Leicester Tigers), C Lawes (Northampton Saints), J Marler (Harlequins), L Mears (Bath Rugby), B Morgan (Scarlets), T Palmer (Stade Francais), C Sharples (Gloucester Rugby), J Simpson (London Wasps), M Stevens (Saracens), M Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), J Turner-Hall (Harlequins), T Waldrom (Leicester Tigers), R Webber (London Wasps).
