Jackson confident he can kick on under Evans after summer switch to Harlequins
RUARIDH Jackson reckons he has fallen on his feet at Harlequins after admitting Danny Cipriani’s arrival at Wasps forced him out of his old club.
Scotland Test star Jackson, 28, will now look to depose veteran fly-half Nick Evans at the Stoop.
Thirty-cap Jackson told The Rugby Paper: “I was enjoying myself at Wasps and getting a fair bit of game time, but then out of nowhere you had Cipriani coming back and it was going to be me, Jimmy Gopperth and Cipriani fighting for one jersey.
“So I had a look to see what was out there and Quins showed a lot of interest in what I had to offer. It’s worked out pretty well as Quins play a brand of rugby that should suit my style.
“They want to attack, get it through the hands and play with width, and whilst it’s probably a bit of a sideways move in that instead of competing with Jimmy I’ll be up against Nick, I’m excited about that and how we’ll go.”
At 36, Evans shows no sign of packing up, but Jackson adds: “I’m definitely out to challenge him. I know he’s a world-class operator who is one of the club’s leaders and it’s not going to be easy to break in, but hopefully I can be snapping at his heels.
“It’s not going to be easy to break in but there are two things I want out of the season: one, to learn off him as much as possible and two, to earn that No.10 shirt and get good game time.”
Having recently played in a Wasps side that reached two semi-finals, Jackson believes the gap Quins must close with the top teams is far from insurmountable and is confident they can push for silverware under a new look coaching team.
Jackson says:“People here are still disappointed with the way things went last season and are desperate to make amends and be back up where they feel they belong, which is fighting for the top four or six spots and the Champions Cup.
“There’s definitely not a massive gap between Quins and teams like Saracens, Wasps and Exeter and you’ve only got to look at the number of England internationals in our squad who starred in Australia and during the Six Nations to see that.
“There are lots of talented young guys like Joe Marchant and if you add in Nick, James Horwill, Jamie Roberts and the rest of our overseas contingent, it can only make this team better.
“There’s really not that far to go to get up there, it’s about starting the season well, getting that winning mentality going and kicking on. That’s the way our coaches, John Kingston and Mark Mapletoft, are talking and Quins always want to be up there competing for silverware.”
NEALE HARVEY