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Gallagher-Prime Minister
Gloucester boss George Skivington is reaping the rewards of his patient pursuit of his ex England Scrum-half Dan Robson, who, he says, started the season with “a bee in his bonnet” and a point to prove.
Skivington admits Stoke-on-Trent-born Robson, 34, who started his career at Kingsholm, never wanted to leave when he signed for Wasps in January 2015, and is now making up for lost time.
Robson’s return from France, with which he spent almost four years Pau after Wasps went into liquidation, he almost flew under the radar after Dewi Lake, Jac Morgan and Jean Kleyn grabbed the headlines.
Skivington said RugbyPass this week that Robson has a big part to play in the development of Caolan Englefield, who has been ruined Harlequins for an hour last weekend before Skivington sent in the 16-game veteran to finish the job.
“I tried to sign him a few years ago but he was in France but we couldn’t get him out of the contract. So when the next opportunity came it was a pretty easy job but I think the first thing with Dan is he’s just a quality guy.”
“He knew a couple of guys in the building, and I couldn’t find anyone who said anything bad about him as a guy, and he’s a very, very good player and he’s still very ambitious, and he still has things he wants to achieve.
“And the beauty of it is that he always had a bit of concern about how he got out of the club the first time because he didn’t really want to leave, but he needed a chance to play.
“Dan has obviously gone on and played really well for a couple of years. There’s a lot of things coming together but I think he’s been brilliant and he’s another leader we’ve brought in.
“He’s another honest guy who tells it like it is and he’s created a leadership group, which the players vote on. He’s very happy to speak there. He and I can have a really good conversation, and there’s no plan for it.”
“He was a great guy to bring in. And I think he and Caolan, who we have high hopes for, are a really good combination of a wiser, older guy with miles on the clock and a younger guy who’s really talented and Dan can only help him develop his game,” he said.
