Harlequins' Chris Robshaw is perennially known as England’s captain and leader, but former international Mark Cueto insists the 29-year-old deserves more recognition for the work he puts in as number seven for the Red Rose.

Few people would argue with Robshaw’s capabilities as leader of the England side.

In England’s opening Six Nations encounter in Cardiff, his refusal to be left waiting outside in the cold by the Welsh resulted in a five-minute stand-off in the tunnel, and his side came out flying on their way to a sensational 21-16 victory.

But he also contributed a mammoth 26 tackles on that occasion, and Cueto – who himself ran out 55 times for England including the Rugby World Cup 2007 final – believes his contribution on the field is often overlooked.

And having stepped aside as captain of club side Quins last season to focus on England ahead of the upcoming Rugby World Cup, Cueto is adamant Robshaw will come good once again as he prepares to lead England into a home campaign.

“I think Chris has done a fantastic job in his time as an England player and in his time as a leader and a captain,” said the 35-year-old, who retired from rugby in May after 15 years at Sale Sharks.

“Having played against him for a long time at club level, he’s a guy that always leads from the front, puts his body on the line, and does a lot of work that goes unnoticed to most spectators.

“But when you are on the field with him, you know he is doing a serious job and in particular with his England performances his stats every game are through the roof in terms of tackles made and turnovers.

“I don’t know whether stepping back as Harlequins captain will have benefitted him, I guess we’ll see later this year. The proof is in the pudding as it were.

“I’m sure that on a matchday he hasn’t completely stepped away even if he is not the official captain over there, he’ll still be leading the team-talks and doing a lot of chatting in the changing rooms and team meetings.

“I think it may have been a bit of a ploy to keep him out of some of the official duties that come with being a captain of a Premiership club, as in a Rugby World Cup year that schedule can get extremely busy.

“Usually if you want to be captaining your country you need to captaining your club week in, week out so hopefully it won’t affect him too much.”

Mark Cueto was speaking on behalf of Land Rover, a Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2015. Land Rover is recruiting all 96 official mascots for the Tournament as part of its ‘We Deal In Real’ campaign. Follow @LandRoverRugby #WeDealInReal