Dan Robson: ‘I’ve not come back for a jolly’ on Dupont, Pau and rebuilding Gloucester

Dan Robson has returned to Gloucester this summer after four seasons with Pau in the French Top 14 and said, "But, ultimately, I’ve not come back for a jolly. I want to come back and be successful," as the Premiership season prepares to kick off on Friday night.

Robson spent four years in Pau, where he mixed it with the likes of Antoine Dupont and Maxime Lucu before rejoining his first Premiership employers. Two of his sons, Laker and Roux, were born in Pau, "It’s always going to have a special place in our hearts as a family," he said, and he recalled regular meet-ups there with Jack Willis after the collapse of Wasps forced both men to restart their careers overseas. "No more croissants for breakfast," he sighs, slightly wistfully. "But it’s good to be back. My waistline is thanking me."

Robson praised the development he has seen in team-mates such as Willis since the move to Toulouse and addressed international eligibility, saying: "It’s pretty scary where his level’s at. You want the Premiership still thriving but would I like to see a special circumstance clause? I don’t think anyone would begrudge a couple of ‘wildcards’ in a World Cup year. As an English person I want the best people involved in the next World Cup." Facing Dupont was instructive, he added: "Dupont is the one. You can feel the energy and confidence coming off the other team when he’s on the pitch." On opponents focusing on Dupont, Robson said: "That’s what really good players like him want. They want people to go outside their system and go and hit him because he’s good enough to make the late decision to put someone else in a hole."

Gloucester recruited Robson to contest the nine shirt with Caolan Englefield, 11 years after he left Kingsholm, where he made 80 appearances. The club has added the Welsh internationals Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan and brought in Chris Boyd as technical director, changes Robson believes create genuine optimism. Drawing on his experience in Pau’s rebuild from relegation candidates to Top 14 contenders, he said: "We’ve got everything we could possibly want here to succeed. We’re not wanting for anything, which is great. There are no excuses. It just adds that little bit of pressure to look at each individual and say: ‘We’ve got to perform now.’"

Robson acknowledged Gloucester’s recent inconsistency, noting it has been some time since the club last reached the play-offs and its end-of-season table-topping was 19 years ago. "It’s been all over the shop a little bit on the pitch and that’s the big challenge for us this year," he said, adding: "To be really consistent and understand that, while we’re not going to win every week, we need to be performing in every game, putting teams under pressure and understanding how we can win." Those aims are immediately tested in round one at Exeter, last season’s finalists, who are marking the 20th anniversary of their move to Sandy Park and whose debut Premiership win against Gloucester in 2010 remains a notable memory.

Robson reflected on a career that has included high promise, setbacks and resilience: long regarded as a sharp, footballing scrum-half, he spent three years in and around the England squad without a full cap, Eddie Jones selected him in 2019, his progress was interrupted by deep vein thrombosis and all 14 of his England caps were earned from the bench. He also endured the disruption of the Wasps debacle in October 2022, which scattered that squad. On his present condition he said: "My body feels good still and mentally I feel better than ever. I feel pretty calm and level-headed … and I still love competing. Until that love starts withering I’ll keep trucking along." He singled out team-mate Phil Cokanasiga as one to watch: "If he gets his game going it’s going to look good."

Gloucester begin their Premiership campaign at Sandy Park against Exeter in round one on Friday night, a fixture Robson says will provide an early measure of the rebuilding process and the club’s ambition to return to more consistent performances.