Northampton Saints talent GEORGE HENDY was asked who he’d love to interview… and he picked England legend JASON ROBINSON
INTERROGATING THE heroes of the past? What a chance to pick up some pointers, ask the burning questions or the obvious ones – or throw something new at a familiar face. We love the idea of an up-and-comer putting queries to a legendary figure.
So we’ve introduced this new regular feature, Meet Your Hero, in which some talented kid gets to sit down and ask a famous figure in rugby anything they want. And we found a bright young thing in Northampton full-back George Hendy, with plenty to put to World Cup winner and Lion Jason Robinson...
George Hendy: What influenced the big decision to transfer from rugby league to union when you did?
Jason Robinson: “I didn’t really know much about rugby union if I’m honest. I had a four-month spell in 1996 with Bath. But I knew nothing about the game. I had no interest in the game whatsoever. “But I got to a point in my career, I was only 26 and I’d won 18 major trophies. I’d played for Great Britain, played for England, played in a World Cup. And I just thought now is probably the time to have a new challenge. Sometimes you can get comfortable and I think that I was getting comfortable.
“Making the switch to rugby union was always going to put me out there and potentially be a risk because there was nothing to say I’d be successful. But I just saw it as a new opportunity and new challenge. Thankfully it worked out.”
GH: You could say that! How long did it take you to fully switch your mindset?
JR: “I didn’t want to get into a union mindset in a lot of ways and I think that’s what made me different to most out there already. The worst thing I could have done is play like a typical union 15 or wing. There’s so much I don’t know – even now – about rugby union. But I knew what I needed to know. And I think if you know what you are good at and you back yourself, it doesn’t matter what you’re playing.
“I wanted to stay true to what I was and what my natural instincts were, that as soon as I got the ball, just run. Just run. Because when most wingers or full-backs get the ball, quite often the main thing is: where are you going to kick it? And I think that sometimes you have got to set yourself apart from the others, if you’re going to stand out.”
GH: What was your USP then?
JR: “Beating somebody one-on-one. There were a lot of players faster than me, staight-line running. Stronger, smarter, everything else. And you can catch a ball 50 metres down the field, but what really matters is what you do in that last metre and a half.
“That was where I earnt my money because I was will
