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I didn’t even know the rules when I made my England Six Nations debut, two years later I’d won everything in rugby
England legend would send crowd wild by beating five players and only making a metre
WHEN I look back on all the games, tournaments and trophies, the Six Nations will always have a special place.
As a rugby player, there is nowhere better to make your name . . . and February 17, 2001, is when things really changed for me.
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I had only joined Sale in November, as the so-called star from rugby league, when I was called up by England coach Sir Clive Woodward.
Three months into my union career I didn’t even know the rules — and here I was playing in the Six Nations.
I had no idea how — or if — everyone would take to me as I sat on the bench against Italy at Twickenham.
With 20 minutes left, I found out.
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I’ll always remember hearing the crowd shouting ‘get him on, get him on,’ and as I took off my sub’s suit, this noise erupted.
On I went and, although I didn’t get many touches of the ball, with every one I had I could tell that everyone was behind me.
They loved the fact I was different, that I could beat five people and make a one-metre gain, but make it look really interesting.
From that moment, every time I got the ball the crowd was expectant and it made me want to do it even more.
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I knew that playing international rugby union would be a step up, there would be more exposure and pressure, but I loved it.
You absorb the demands, the expectations, and use it as fuel or it will crush you.
How can you not love playing for your country, with 80-odd thousand in the stadium and millions watching on TV?
If that doesn’t get you going, nothing will, and I was lucky enough to go on and captain England too. What a proud moment.
But it was after that first Six Nations game when I started to make real inroads.
Teams knew if they kicked to me I would run it back.
The big thing was that Sir Clive gave me the freedom and when you don’t know all the rules but know what you can do with ball in hand, that is huge.
He just said, ‘I don’t want to change you, just go and play. If you get caught we have got Lawrence Dallaglio, Richard Hill, Neil Back . . . people who’ll bail you out’.
Don’t get me wrong, I had to adapt.
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Part of me had the rugby league guy in there, learning the rules.
I knew to release the ball in the tackle straight away, although you let go pretty quickly when you’ve got size 14 boots all over your back!
And going into the Six Nations gave me the opportunity to learn a new game, new skills and as a result I became a better player.
It’s why I love it so much and every year brings a special story.
Last time it was about players who were trying to prove themselves before the World Cup.
Now it’s about some of them licking their wounds and wanting to put the record straight.
This year’s Six Nations couldn’t have started with a bigger game than France versus Ireland last night.
But I’m sure there will be more great stories to come and players making their name — as I did all those years ago.
I’d just tell everyone who gets their chance, ‘Don’t go away from who and what you are’.
If you have the belief, anything can happen. It did for me.
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The Jason Robinson Foundation continues to work in changing young people’s lives for the better.
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