Young Gun: Will Robinson – Wasps fly-half

The similarities are striking: a confident young Wasps fly-half not afraid to play what’s in front of him, schooled at Whitgift and developed at Rosslyn Park.
But while Danny Cipriani‘s career trajectory took him round the world, Will Robinson, 19, is drawing far more inspiration from Wasps’ current No.10 Stephen Jones.
The Wales stand-off might provide another obstacle in Robinson’s way of reaching first-team rugby but the teenager is determined to learn every trick of the fly-half trade from a player with more than 100 Test caps.
He said: “For a guy who has achieved so much, Stephen was really approachable. He was very open with me about his kicking technique and what he does to warm up.
“I’m looking forward to working with him and learning as much as I can. Stephen coming here obviously means there’s more competition but I see his arrival as great.
“Him and Nicky Robinson are quality players and I can only get better being around them.”
For the most part though, Robinson will be getting game time under his belt at Rosslyn Park, where he cut his teeth last season with over 30 appearances.
And while he has also appeared in A-league and academy matches, Robinson argues there’s no substitute for learning in the cut-and-thrust of National League rugby.
“Playing alongside Ross Laidlaw, who is a very good ten taught me what I wanted to know about how to run a game.
“When you play in A-league they’re a much faster pace and you have players pushing for first-team places but in National One there’s a lot more pressure on every game. It really means something.
“I like to think I progressed a lot, especially with my game management compared to when I first went there.”
Wasps’ supporters have already been given a tantalising glimpse into Robinson’s talents after he made his debut as a replacement against Exeter in the LV= Cup.
He immediately sparked Wasps into life with a brilliant inside ball and a flat cut-out pass.
A further appearance came, this time as a starter, against Northampton in the same competition, but this time the going was much tougher playing opposite Stephen Myler as the visitors went down to a 57-10 defeat.
But Robinson would not swap the experiences. He said: “Exeter was a brilliant experience – I did not know if I was going to get on until they called me.
“As a Wasps supporter it meant so much to play my first game at Adams Park. It helped in some way that we were losing by a big margin so I could try a few things. I would pride myself on my kicking but I am not afraid to play what is in front of me.
“Northampton was a tough day at the office but it is all about developing and learning form those sorts of days.
“Hopefully I can get some more first-team games and I would look to get involved in a Premiership squad at some stage.
“When you look at the players who were in last year’s academy like Christian Wade, Joe Launchbury and Sam Jones and the way they have progressed it gives you a lot of hope.”