Chris Robshaw: Harlequins' former England skipper to leave club after 16 years

Chris Robshaw recovered from having knee surgery in October 2018

Former England captain Chris Robshaw is to leave Harlequins at the end of the season after 16 years at the club.

The 33-year-old helped Quins win their first ever Premiership title in 2011-12 and was also in the side that lifted the Challenge Cup a year earlier.

Robshaw said that he "looks forward to the next chapter" but has yet to decide whether he will continue playing.

"I could never have imagined I would be fortunate enough to play for the team I admired the most," he said.

"Though there is so much I will miss about playing for this team, I will always be eternally grateful and proud for having had the chance to stand alongside such extraordinary players."

Robshaw won the most recent of his 66 England caps in June 2018 - leading his country in 43 Tests over a five-and-a-half-year period - but was left out of last year's World Cup squad.

He has made 203 Premiership appearances for Harlequins, 14 of them this season, with former England scrum coach Neal Hatley last year saying the flanker was in "as good a shape as we've seen him".

"In terms of what I'm going to do next, I'm still not sure," Robshaw told Talksport.

"I still don't know what the next chapter is, whether in a rugby capacity or a post-rugby capacity."

Chris Robshaw skippered Harlequins to their maiden Premiership title

Back-rower Robshaw was a late omission from the Harlequins side that reached the Premiership Rugby final on Sunday through illness.

He was named Premiership player of the year in the London side's title-winning season - scoring a try in their Twickenham victory over Leicester - and also won the individual award in 2008-09.

"Despite all the intense training hours, and the emotional and physical demands of the job, it never felt like work," Robshaw added in a statement on Twitter.

"Putting on the Harlequins shirt will always remain the greatest privilege of my professional career."

'I'm going to look abroad'

Speaking on Talksport shortly after the announcement Robshaw said "everything's up in the air" regarding his next steps, but wanted to address his Harlequins future "before rumours happen".

"I am going to look abroad. I'll look at that opportunity if there's anything there that work," he continued.

"France have double the salary cap that England have so generally you can go there and earn more money, but obviously you have the language barrier and all this kind of stuff.

"Japan can be quite lucrative as well."

Robshaw's former England team-mates James Haskell and Geoff Parling are among the big names who have played in the Japanese Top League over the past decade.

"It does allow me that bit of freedom to actually be like, 'we can go and look here and there' and we don't have to be sneaky about it because we've addressed the issue," he added.