Chris Robshaw in training for England © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Stuart Lancaster | Chris Robshaw

Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations

Teams: England

England skipper Chris Robshaw has revealed that he has saught the advice of former captain Will Carling after it was confirmed that the Harlequins back-row would keep the armband for the rest of the Six Nations.

The Harlequins flanker was initially appointed for England's opening two matches but he impressed interim coach Stuart Lancaster with his leadership in the victories over Scotland and Italy.

Robshaw immediately set his sights on keeping the job long-term and making England the number one ranked team by the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Carling led England to Grand Slam triumphs in 1991, 1992 and 1995 - and the 1991 World Cup final - after being appointed, at the age of 22, as his country's youngest ever captain.

Robshaw, who is 25, has won two of his three Test caps as captain and he will pick Carling's brains before England's showdown with Wales on February 25, just as he has over the past fortnight.

"Will Carling has been giving me tips because he was in a similar boat, probably a harder boat," Robshaw said. "Before the Scotland game he spoke about the need to appreciate how much they dislike us - not on a personal perspective - but that we needed to be ready for the antics before the game and after the game.

"Last week he spoke to me about it being tough going to Italy, making sure we were ready and backing up the win, which is always the hardest. I will speak to him before the Wales game and he will probably say a similar thing (to what he said before we played Scotland)."

Lancaster made the initial short-term appointment because he could not be certain how Robshaw, as an inexperienced international, would cope with captaining England and whether it would have a negative impact on his performance.

But having watched Robshaw lead from the front in two tough victories on the road, Lancaster had no hesitation in cementing his decision for the rest of the Six Nations.

"Being the England captain is a big responsibility. Part of the reason for reviewing it after two games was to see whether it affected his on-field performance," Lancaster said. "He was the top tackler and ball-carrier against Scotland and Italy. His performances haven't suffered and his on-field leadership has been good.

"He has managed the transition from club captain to international captain very well."

Tom Wood was Robshaw's leading rival for the captaincy before damaging his toe and the Northampton flanker may not be fit for an England return before the end of the Six Nations. England's new permanent coach should be in place for the summer tour to South Africa, with interviews beginning in late March, and Wood will come back into the captaincy reckoning.

But having tasted the leadership role, Robshaw wants to keep hold of it long term and complete the job England - "my side" - have started under Lancaster.

"I would love to be (captain) for as long as I can be," Robshaw said. "I am hugely honoured to keep captaining my side. Stuart said things have been going in the right direction. He offered me the chance to continue captaining the side and it is one of those things you don't turn down.

"As a captain, you need to be respected by the rest of the players due to (how well) you are playing. I had to back it up with performances and hopefully I will continue to do so. As an aim, we want to get English rugby back to the top of the world.

"We know that won't happen overnight and the long term aim is 2015. The sooner that can happen the better."

Over the next eight days, Lancaster has to weigh up the pros and cons of continuity in selection - and what that does for his efforts to build a new team - over the value that changes would bring in an attempt to halt the Welsh juggernaut. Scrum-half Lee Dickson and number eight Ben Morgan both made telling impacts off the bench against Italy at the weekend while Toby Flood, Manu Tuilagi and Courtney Lawes are all available for selection again.

It would be a surprise if Lancaster made five changes but a couple are certainly in the offing, particularly after Morgan and Dickson injected a missing tempo into England's game in Rome.

"Yes (change is going through my mind), absolutely," Lancaster said. "There were also some impressive performances from the bench, notably Lee and Ben. There are now options coming back into the equation who previously weren't available, three World Cup players [Flood, Manu, Lawes].

"Players have to be on form and playing well to go into a Test match against a side of the quality of Wales."

Lancaster has made Flood, Tuilagi and Lawes available for club duty this weekend along with 13 others, including Morgan and Tom Palmer