Dan Robson (born 14 March 1992) is an English professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player for Pau in the French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

Personal life

Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Robson attended

Newcastle-under-Lyme School Newcastle-under-Lyme School is a mixed Independent day school in the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It came about by a merger of the old Newcastle High School (founded in 1874) with the Orme Girls' School (founded in 187 ...

. His father was also a rugby player for

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

and was on the bench in five different games for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

without winning a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

. Since the age of about 18 years old he has had the nickname of '

Dobby Rhyan Clapham, known by his stage name Dobby (stylised as DOBBY), is a Filipino-Aboriginal Australian musician. He describes himself as a "drapper", a contraction of rapper and drummer, although he also plays other instruments and is also a compo ...

', named after the character in the

Harry Potter film series ''Harry Potter'' is a film series based on the Harry Potter, eponymous novels by J. K. Rowling. The series is produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and consists of eight fantasy films, beginning with ''Harry Potter and the Philos ...

. He was given this during his time playing for

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

and acquired this during the 'Milk Challenge'. The milk challenge is an initiation for new signings and graduates from the player academy and involves drinking 8 pinks of milk in 20 minutes. Whilst undertaking this challenge, he vomited and apparently "looked like Dobby the house elf". On his move to

Wasps Rugby Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

he thought that he had 'gotten away with' no longer being called this as some of his new teammates did not know him by this name. However he feels that it was probably

James Haskell James Andrew Welbon Haskell (born 2 April 1985) is an English former rugby union player who played for Wasps RFC and Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership, and internationally for England. In August 2019 he announced he would become a ...

who was responsible for the persistence of the nickname. He states that he has since "embraced" this and considers it "part of me".

Club career

Robson first played rugby for his local club as a five-year-old and later had a season of men's rugby at

Longton Rugby Club Longton Rugby Club is an English rugby union team based in Longton, Staffordshire. The club runs two (sometimes 3) senior sides, a social side, and a full set of junior teams. The first XV currently plays in Counties 1 Midlands West (North), a se ...

. He began his senior career with

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

in 2010 and in April 2013 it was announced that he had signed a two-year contract extension to keep him at the club until the end of the 2014–15 season. In his final season at the club Robson was on the bench for Gloucester as they defeated

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in the final of the

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

. On 8 January 2015 it was announced that Robson would leave Gloucester at the end of the season to join

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

on a long-term deal. Robson started for the Wasps side that lost to

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

in the Premiership finals of 2017 and 2019. Wasps entered administration on 17 October 2022 and Robson was made redundant along with all other players and coaching staff. Following his release from Wasps, Robson signed for French side Pau in the

for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.

International career

Robson was a member of the England under-20 team that achieved a grand slam in the

2011 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2011 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held between February and March 2011. England won the tournament along with the Grand Slam and the Triple Crown. Final table Results Round one Round two Round thr ...

and later that year was part of the squad that finished runners up to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at the

2011 IRB Junior World Championship The 2011 IRB Junior World Championship was the fourth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby's ...

. The following year saw Robson score a try against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the

2012 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2012 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held between February and March 2012. England won the tournament and the Triple Crown. Final table Results Round one Round two Round three Round four Roun ...

as England retained their title and he was also a member of the squad that finished seventh at the

2012 IRB Junior World Championship The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship was the fifth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 and Under 21 world championships. The event was organised in South A ...

. On 31 January 2014, Robson made his debut for

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

when they drew 16–16 against Scotland A in an international friendly. Robson was selected for the England squad to face the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

in the summer of 2014 and on 1 June 2014 Robson made his debut for England in a non-cap friendly, losing to the Barbarians 39–29 at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...

. In June 2016 Robson scored a try for the

as they defeated South Africa A at

Free State Stadium The Free State Stadium ( af, Vrystaatstadion), currently known as the Toyota Stadium for sponsorship reasons and formerly known as Vodacom Park, is a stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa, used mainly for rugby union and also sometimes for associa ...

. Robson was called up to the senior

squad by coach Eddie Jones on 1 August 2016 for a pre-season training squad. On 30 September 2016 he was subsequently named in the Test squad for the Autumn Internationals, however he remained an unused substitute. On 10 February 2019, Robson made his international

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debut as a replacement for

Ben Youngs Benjamin Ryder Youngs (born 5 September 1989) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Leicester Tigers and . He made his club debut at 17 in 2007 and in 2010 made his debut for England; in 2022 he became En ...

against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the

2019 Six Nations Championship The 2019 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

and later during the tournament he also scored his first try in a game against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In November 2020 Robson scored another try against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in their opening game of the

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoiding extended travel due to the COVID- ...

and also came off the bench in the final of the competition as England defeated France in extra-time to win the tournament.

International tries

References

External links

Wasps profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Dan 1992 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players People educated at Newcastle-under-Lyme School Rugby union players from Stoke-on-Trent Rugby union scrum-halves Wasps RFC players