TONY Diprose has backed Chris Robshaw to brush off his British & Irish Lions disappointment by leading Harlequins to a second successive Premiership play-off final.
England skipper Robshaw (pictured) was snubbed, along with the rest of the Quins squad, when Warren Gatland last week announced his squad to tour Australia.
By contrast, Leicester, who Quins visit in tomorrow's play-off semi-final after beating Northampton 22-19 in their final league game, had six Lions selected.
Diprose, Quins' academy chief, said: “Chris has had some really high highs and some really low lows in his career, and everybody wants to achieve what I believe is the biggest high in rugby, and that is playing for the Lions.
“I believe he is one of the best back-rowers in the British Isles. But he is not an old man, he has a lot of rugby left in him, and there is still a chance he could be called up – it happened to me in 1997.
“Chris is the sort of person who will use the disappointment to re-set his goals and come back stronger with Quins. When he was left out of the 2011 World Cup, his response was to come back as England captain within a few months.”
Diprose has now been with Quins as player and staff member for more than a decade since joining from Saracens, but insists he is not dreaming of a final against his old club.
He added: “I've not even thought about that really as we have a tough semi-final to get through first, and historically they are won by the home team, so Leicester will be favourites, but we want to retain our title.
“We knew two weeks ago it was going to be an away semi-final, but we have gone to some really tough environments and won over the last few seasons, so those experiences will be useful to us.
“We have got the momentum of three straight wins, and the players know what they need to do – they just have to make sure they take their best game out onto the pitch.”
