Jordan: ‘Here’s to you, Mr Robinson’
ENGLAND GREAT JASON IS A HERO TO LARMOUR
IRELAND’S shooting star Jordan Larmour is set on becoming the modern-day Jason Robinson.
The 22-year-old full-back has been styling his defenceshredding footwork on the England great as he seeks to bring a new dimension to Ireland’s side.
A try and an assist in the 24-14 win over Wales a fortnight ago shows the method of Robinson, below, is working for Ireland’s ball of fizzing energy.
“He is a player I have looked at,” said Larmour ahead of Sunday’s Six Nations showdown with England.
“I have googled him a few times on YouTube. His footwork and speed is something I try to bring into my game. You can learn a lot from watching how he played.
“When you step on the pitch you just want to put in a good performance. Sometimes that is scoring tries and sometimes it’s not.You can create tries too.”
The latest off a Leinster conveyor belt which delivers half the Ireland side, Larmour is a Test natural, but he was equally gifted as a schoolboy international hockey player.
Unlike most of his club-mates, who went to all-boys schools in Dublin that double as mini-rugby academies, Larmour attended the mixed St Andrew’s College that was big on hockey.
Only after returning from a serious knee injury near the end of his studies did he put all his eggs into the rugby basket – and Ireland are now reaping the benefits. Stuart Lancaster, the former England coach who is now at Leinster, recalled the moment when he found out what Larmour was capable of.
“When I joined he was in the academy,” said Lancaster. “I remember that we played a pre-season game against Gloucester. We gave Jordan an opportunity and he scored this amazing try. Everyone went: ‘Wow.Who is this kid?’ “From then on he was very quickly promoted to the senior squad and regularly in training he would be pulling off amazing pieces of skill, invention or anticipation.”
Larmour has a taste for the spectacular on the field, while at the same time being reassuringly ordinary off it.
“He’s a great lad – very grounded, humble and hardworking,” said Lancaster. “He’s quick and powerful but his biggest aspect – irrespective of his ability to beat defenders – is his ability to learn and to want to improve.
“He’d be the first to admit he has loads to learn. He’s working hard on his positional play and his counter-attacking decisionmaking, but his natural instincts and his ability to see space and create space are excellent.
“He’s not just a running fullback. His catch and pass with the defender shooting out of the line at him for Andrew Conway’s last try againstWales this month was a great example of his skill.”
If Larmour opens his box of tricks at Twickenham, it could be England left chasing shadows.