I’LL BE TOP DOG
Robson putting his injury troubles behind him to target a World Cup place
IT’S nice to have a little bundle of joy after the past few months,’ says Dan Robson as his new puppy, Bear, arrives at the front-door. Just eight weeks old, the tiny black and brown French bulldog sniffs nervously around his new pals, Buddy and Sophie.
‘It feels like he’s taken forever to get here,’ he explained. ‘It’s been a tough time with my injury, watching Wasps struggle in the league and losing our old dog Cooper in November. It’s a nice feeling when things start to come together. Now we just need a bit of luck.’
One win in 13 made for a miserable Christmas in Coventry.
For most of it, Robson has had to re sign himself to frustrated spectating. The scrum half missed almost three months of rugby — including England’s autumn series — after rupturing ligaments in his ankle and fracturing his fibula. He found himself reduced to ‘walking’ the dogs in a mobility scooter.
‘The injury was called a syndesmosis,’ he explains, as his partner Liz shows the puppy around the house. ‘ I had a plate put in and a “tightrope” put around the ligaments to hold them together.
‘That’s there for life. It’s like a nice little bangle. It’s always tough to watch the team when you’re injured, but it’s even worse when you’re losing. You feel helpless.’
Wasps’ run has been compounded by rumours of unrest about the club’s training facilities, with speculation that the likes of Elliot Daly are heading for the exit.
Robson made his comeback on December 23 and plays in today’s game against in-form Northampton, which could be the difference between moving up to fifth or being stuck down in ninth in the table. As head coach Dai Young explained, victory is required to keep the side out of ‘the smelly stuff’.
‘It’s the toughest period I’ve had i n four years at Wasps,’ said Robson. ‘It’s new territory but we’ve spoken about it in depth and we know we’re not far off. At the end of the day, when you’re in this kind of rut you need a bit of luck. Injuries haven’ t helped. We’ve had six or seven different centre partnerships and four different No9s. One little intercept can flip your whole season on its head.
‘ Regardless of where people are going next year, everyone’s buying into things. Whether guys are staying, leaving or retiring, no one wants this season to fade away. The mood is awesome.’
For Robson, at least, 2019 has begun in a more positive light than 2018 ended.
On Wednesday, he was among a group of 40 or so players invited to a pre-Six Nations gathering by Eddie Jones.
‘I got a taxi up to Liverpool with Elliot Daly, Joe Launchbury and Brad Shields,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘ There were a few jokes from Eddie about my hair. It’s nice not to be forgotten.’ Back home in Leamington Spa, among a collection of canine photographs, Robson’s office is decorated with rugby memorabilia from Gloucester and Wasps. Remarkably, he is yet to win his first England cap but is being tipped to make a late World Cup charge. After all, Danny Care was dropped at the end of the autumn campaign and Ben Youngs has struggled for form at Leicester. In coach Young’s mind, there is no doubt about who should be wearing the No 9 jersey in Japan. ‘ Dan’s pretty much t he heartbeat of our team,’ says Young. ‘He’s a hugely influential player for us and, for me, he should be in that England set-up, without a shadow of a doubt. The biggest thing that stands out is his x-factor as an individual threat.
‘We don’t seem to be the same force i n attack when he’s not playing. I think he’s the best nine in England and I definitely see him as England’s scrum half moving forward.’
Unlike his father Simon, Robson is determined not to be a ‘nearly man’ when it comes to Test rugby.
Robson Snr sat on the bench five times for England and never won a cap, while Robson Jnr has so far also been limited to holding tackle bags.
‘Sometimes I think dad wants me to get a cap more than I do,’ he joked. ‘It has been frustrating, of course it has. I’ve had these little tastes and my first goal is to get that cap, then you want to add to it.
‘It’s a big year with the World Cup and I don’t want to leave it too late, so the next weeks are important. I’ve sat down with Eddie and you’ve just got to work your way up.’
If all goes to plan, Robson could end up being England’s top dog.