ROB WEBBER is not even contemplating defeat this weekend.

The Pocklington RUFC product, now starring with Bath among rugby union’s elite, has been part of the England set-up that has gone five matches without a victory, a sequence which puts huge question marks over their potential to lift the William Webb Ellis Trophy on home soil next year.

If that run – already the worst since 2006, when Andy Robinson resigned as coach after seven straight defeats - increases to six against relative minnows Samoa on Saturday, those question marks would come with flashing lights and bells on.

However, when asked where England, and boss Stuart Lancaster, would go from there should they come a cropper at Twickenham for a third time this autumn, Webber - now at the forefront of the attempts to stop the rot, having finally been given a starting role at hooker in place of the dropped Dylan Hartley - was quick to turn the question around.

“We want that win desperately as a group and we are working hard to get it,” said the York-born 28-year-old, changing the tone to one of positivity. “I can assure people we will be doing everything we can.

“The overall feeling (regarding the two autumn internationals so far) is a combination of disappointment and frustration that we’ve come up short twice by a narrow margin.

“We need to keep our heads up and stay confident that we will get that win."

Webber has hitherto been on the bench in this series, entering the fray in the second half of both games to take his number of caps into double figures.

He added of England's next test: “I think Samoa will pose a tough challenge in the way they play. They have dangerous open-field runners and some big hitters in the traditional Samoan style.

“We will have to combat that, but it’s a good opportunity to get that first win (of the Autumn series).”

In England’s mitigation, four of their five defeats have come against world champions New Zealand, the other being last Saturday’s 31-28 reverse to South Africa, another side with World Cup pedigree.

And Webber reckons the two autumn results – both three-point losses - prove not that the Red Rose ranks are no-hopers in next year’s World Cup, but rather they are not far away.

“I think there is a lot of rugby to be played domestically and internationally before the World Cup,” he said, echoing Lancaster’s assertion that there is no crisis.

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“We’ve played two of the top teams in the world and come up just short. We haven’t been smashed. We’re disappointed but we know we can get the wins.

“We’re looking at why we’ve come up short and trying to go forward. There’s no panic but we have acknowledged there are improvements to be made.”

He added of the England camp: “It’s been a fantastic couple of weeks in that being involved is great. But we want to be winning and getting these victories, and we’re working hard to correct the things that are wrong.

“Obviously I want to start. I’ve been trying for that all autumn and if I get that opportunity I will give it my best. It’s where I want to be – starting the games rather than starting on the bench.”

Webber's rugby education began at Pocklington School and with the town's Percy Road-based club - where he is still a regular visitor, where his brother, Matt, is a first-team star and where his mum, Gwen, still does the catering for the minis on Sunday mornings.

He rose into the pro ranks with Leeds Carnegie and arrived at Bath in 2012 after a spell with Wasps. Since then, his form with the Somerset outfit – who lie third in the Premiership - has seen him become a direct challenger for the number two shirt regularly worn by Northampton star Hartley.

“I’m really enjoying it down there,” Webber said of his club rugby.

“I’m really happy with the group of blokes we’ve got and the coaches. We had a reasonable start but we’ve had a bit of a blip with the two European losses.

“What we have got, though, is high aspirations as a club. We’re confident, and we’re playing a good brand of rugby.

“Our ability to score tries has been good in comparison to previous years where we’ve been more defence orientated.

“But there’s a lot of pedigree in this Premiership.

“Northampton are flying high, Saracens are looking good. There are teams with fantastic depth and experience and we’re playing catch-up in that area. But in my time at Bath this is the first serious challenge for the title and we’re confident we can do it.

“The Premiership is such a long, tough league that you have to be on the money every week and stay consistent.

“The focus right now though is England and getting those wins we all crave.”