For Quins and Country

Despite having won just a solitary cap, Chris Robshaw was named England captain by interim coach Stuart Lancaster earlier this week.

Robshaw has been told he will captain the first two of England's 6 Nations games as a minimum. Both will be played away, first against Scotland before heading to Rome.

It appears then, like Lancaster, Robshaw's new role might still be temporary. By limiting the captaincy announcement to two games, Lancaster has left it open for Tom Wood, who will return from injury for the game against Wales, to stake his own claim for leadership.

Whilst his reign may yet be limited, Robshaw has every reason to be proud of what he has achieved with Quins since being left out of the World Cup team by Martin Johnson last summer.

He led the side to an almost faultless first half of the season with 14 consecutive wins and almost a guaranteed Premiership play-off by Christmas.

But whilst Robshaw has been outstanding, it has not been him alone. In total ten Harlequins players have received call-ups to the England and Saxons squads; the same number as Leicester.

O'Shea will be pleased with the comparison to the big teams as he tries to pin Quins to the top of English rugby for years to come.

But whilst there is undoubtedly pride in this achievement, what might be the price?

Quins may have the same number of England's stars as Leicester, but do they have the same depth of squad? Leicester's win at the weekend during the LV Cup at the Stoop suggests perhaps not.

With so many players away Quins will need to be careful they don't slip up too often to lesser teams able to continue playing at full strength during the international period. Lose too often and they will forfeit the chance of a home semi final play-off.

However, Danny Care's drink drive suspension from the England team, and the tough omission of the in-form Nick Easter may yet work well for the club during the hard weeks ahead.

As in many professional sports, the club versus country argument will rage on, as clubs pay the price of developing then looking after great players.

But for now Quins fans should be proud of the ten players wearing the Rose in the coming weeks, and hope to see more future international stars coming up through the ranks at the Stoop.