Skivington reveals Robson's 11-year grudge is fuelling Gloucester's flying start

Dan Robson has returned to Gloucester with a point to prove — and head coach George Skivington says that edge has been building for 11 years. The 34-year-old scrum-half, who began his career at Kingsholm before leaving for Wasps in January 2015, rejoined the club this season after nearly four years in France with Pau following Wasps’ liquidation.

Skivington told RugbyPass that Robson never truly wanted to leave Gloucester the first time around, and that unresolved feeling has sharpened his focus since coming back. “He’s always had a little bit of a bee in his bonnet about how he exited the club the first time because he didn’t really want to ever leave, but he needed the opportunity to play,” Skivington said.

Robson’s return has been somewhat overshadowed by the higher-profile arrivals of Dewi Lake, Jac Morgan and Jean Kleyn, but Skivington is clear about the value the veteran brings. He revealed he had tried to sign Robson a couple of years earlier but was unable to free him from his contract in France. “When the next opportunity came round, it was pretty easy business,” he said.

Beyond his own performances, Skivington sees Robson as a key figure in the development of young scrum-half Caolan Englefield. Robson came off the bench against Harlequins last weekend after Englefield had dominated for an hour, and the coach is enthusiastic about the pairing. “He and Caolan, who we’ve got high hopes for, are a really good combination of the wiser, older guy with miles on the clock, and a younger guy who’s really talented, and Dan can just help him develop his game,” Skivington said.

Robson has also earned a place in Gloucester’s player-voted leadership group, a detail Skivington highlighted as a mark of the respect he commands in the dressing room. “He’s another straight-up bloke who says it as it is,” the coach said. “He’s very happy to speak in there. He and I can have a really good conversation, and there’s no agenda to it.”

With Gloucester making a strong start to the season, Skivington appears to be reaping the rewards of his patient, multi-year pursuit of a player who, it turns out, was always looking for a way home.