Fast forward 12 months and Robshaw will again lead England in their RBS 6 Nations opener in the Calcutta Cup, having helped restore his side’s reputation, coming through their to-kick-or-not-to-kick conundrums to inspire a breath-taking victory over New Zealand in December.

It’s easy to forget that 26-year-old Robshaw still has just 12 caps and he freely admits he can travel on the London Underground and pass unnoticed among his capital’s other tube users.

But he also knows that with the 2013 RBS 6 Nations about to kick off, his public profile is about to soar – and he’s also aware of just how far England have come under his leadership.

“Everyone is watching now, the Six Nations is so much more public,” he said.

“But it’s been brilliant, we’ve had a great 12 months where there have been highs and lows and I’m sure there will be more to come and it’s about moving forward from where we are now.

“I’ve only actually played Scotland once, it was my first time leading the guys out and playing at Murrayfield, it was a special occasion.

“We spoke in the week back then about what to expect going up there and when we actually pulled into the car park, the bag pipe men suddenly appeared and delayed us by about five or ten minutes and that was when it hit you.

“But we had prepared for it and we got the right result.

“We are in a different situation now as a team that is a bit more experienced and we have played the best teams in the world so hopefully we can draw on that and kick off to a good start.

“We are in a good place and this is a tournament that it’s so important to hit the ground running, to have that at Twickenham is massive.

“Everyone wants to get off to a winning start but it’s about how you go about that that brings the results.

“It’s always a huge honour, to lead the guys out at Twickenham is what you dream about doing but I'm in a lucky position and have some great people around me.”

Making victory over the All Blacks all the sweeter for Robshaw was that he was vilified in many quarters following England’s narrow defeats to South Africa and Australia.

To many observers, they must now reproduce that kind of form against Scotland but Robshaw admits that his teammates’ reaction to his decisions against the Springboks proved that it’s a burden he does not carry alone.

“We finished on the back of that New Zealand game and we’ve spoken about how this is what our benchmark to be and how we go about building on that,” he added.

“We spoke after the South Africa game and I went home head down and it wasn’t until I got back in there and into the camp and spoke to the guys who were saying don’t worry we’ll go out there and win next weekend.

“It really made me appreciate the character of the squad we have at the moment and Stuart has been very open about the leadership group that we have and the handful of players in the leadership group.

“We have a core group, a handful of leaders with the likes of Dylan Hartley and Geoff Parling who drive the forwards, the nine and 10 running things and Brad Barritt on the defensive side.

“When a tough decision has to be made it comes from us guys and it will have the backing of those guys.

"And while it may not be the popular one it’s for the goodness of the team and the better of the side.”