New boy Dan Robson relishing battle for Wasps No.9 shirt

Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson cannot wait to go head-to-head with England hopeful Joe Simpson and believes he can win his battle for more game time.
Robson, 23, took the decision to leave Gloucester, where he found his own international hopes stymied by multi-capped Scotland Test star Greig Laidlaw.
But he insists jousting with Simpson will not be a case of swapping one selection headache for another, telling The Rugby Paper: “I’ve got a lot of respect for ‘Simmo’ and the same with Greig, but Greig’s goal-kicking just made it a step too far for me at Gloucester.
“Me and Simmo are pretty similar players and we can work well together and push each other. It’s never going to be easy but you want that competition and don’t want an easy ride, because that’s when you get into a rut and don’t improve.
“Joining Wasps was not an overnight decision, there was a lot of mulling things over. Gloucester’s a massive club and I had good memories there, but you want to be playing as well and I’m excited to be joining Wasps at this time with the boys we’ve got here.”
Robson made 63 Premiership appearances in five seasons at Gloucester, over half of them from the bench. But he was able to learn from the best and now aims to be top dog as he looks to catch the eye of the England selectors for the post-World Cup rebuild.
“At Gloucester I spent time behind Rory Lawson, Jimmy Cowan and Greig Laidlaw and I managed to learn a lot from three top internationals and really take all that into my game,” Robson explained.
“I’ve always studied other scrum-halves. Matt Dawson inspired me watching the 2003 World Cup and he was someone who was always in control of a game and knew exactly what to do, as he showed in the build-up to Jonny’s drop-goal.
“Aaron Smith is probably, in my eyes, the best scrum-half in the world at the minute and he’s got everything you want. You watch those guys and take something from them and it’s great to be with Simmo now, who I’ve also grown up watching a lot.
“It’s up to Dai Young how he wants to do things between us, whether they go down the rotation road or just let us battle it out, but I’m determined to work hard and it will be a huge season ahead for me and Wasps.”
Robson represented England Saxons in 2014 and hopes being back in the Champions Cup with Wasps can help rekindle his international ambitions.
The pool stage sees Wasps pitted with champions Toulon, Leinster and Bath, but a bullish Robson said: “It’s a hard group but you’ve got to beat the best and we really want to push on in Europe.
“It’s nice to be back in that top tier and you want to be playing against the best players because that’s how you improve and kick on.”
Robson, who will make his Wasps bow in Friday’s Premiership 7s, added: “It will be good to get my first hit-out for Wasps and it’s going to be a great place to play.
“Playing international rugby is always in the back of your head but that can only happen if I’m playing well for Wasps.”
NEALE HARVEY