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Jason Thorpe Robinson MBE (born 30 July 1974 in Leeds) is an English rugby union player and former rugby league player. He plays wing or fullback. He is nicknamed 'Billy Whizz' after a character in a British comic called The Beano who is extremely fast. In a one-on-one situation he is generally unstoppable. He was an alcoholic but became a born-again Christian partly due to the influence of ex-Wigan Warriors team-mate Va'aiga Tuigamala .

He started his rugby league career at Hunslet, a famous club that plays in South Leeds. Despite being offered a contract by Leeds, he stuck by his side as it would have meant leaving at an inconvenient time. He was later rewarded by a contract with Wigan who dominated British rugby league. He went on to win twelve caps for Great Britain and seven for England. In all he played in 302 rugby league games, scoring 184 tries.

In 1996, rugby union had gone open, allowing professional players for the first time, and rugby league went from a winter sport to a summer sport, so few league players chose to play part of a season for a rugby union club. Jason agreed to play for Bath. After further contract negotiations with Wigan broke down, Jason chose to play rugby union permanently for Sale Sharks, who, at that time, were not considered one of the top teams.

He made his debut for Sale Sharks against Coventry in November 2000. Despite having played few rugby union games, he won his first England cap as a substitute against Italy in February 2001, having played in the A match against Wales at Wrexham a fortnight earlier. In doing so, he was only the second man ever to play Rugby Union for England after having first played Rugby League for Great Britain (the first having been Barrie-Jon Mather in 1999). He was immediately chosen for the 2001 Lions tour to Australia and was one of the outstanding players in the side that won the first Test in Brisbane, by 29-13. In that game he sidestepped past Australian fullback Chris Latham. He went on to score another in the final Test.

This proved to be an excellent decision by the English management. He has scored 19 tries in just 33 international matches including a memorable dash to touch down in the 2003 World Cup final against Australia. He played in all seven of England’s World Cup games.

After Lawrence Dallaglio's international retirement in 2003, Jonny Wilkinson was initially appointed captain. However, Wilkinson was injured for the 2003 autumn internationals and Robinson was appointed captain. He was the 118th captain of England, the first mixed race player and the first former rugby league player to captain England. In his first appearance as captain, he scored a hat-trick of tries in a 70-0 wipeout of Canada.

In the 2004 6-Nations, he scored three tries playing as a centre in the opening match against Italy and was named Man of the Match. Jason chose to opt out of the 2004 summer tour to recharge his batteries.

The choice of Robinson as captain came in for some criticism after leading England's poor 2005 Six Nations campaign, in which they lost more games than they won for the first time since 1983. Many said that as a fullback he was too far away from the action to be captain.

Robinson was again called up to the Lions' 2005 tour of New Zealand. He was excused from travelling with the bulk of the touring party in order to spend time with his wife, who was expecting the couple's fourth child in August. Throughout his career, he normally brought his wife and children along when he went on a tour, but her pregnancy made this impossible for the 2005 tour. He joined the team on 7 June, well in advance of the first New Zealand test on 25 June.

On September 24, 2005, Robinson announced his retirement from international rugby union, stating that he wished to spend more time with his family. In the 2005-2006 season, Robinson led his club Sale Sharks to their first ever Premiership title.

Robinson returned to the English set-up for the 2007 Six Nations tournament following the decision of new Head Coach Brian Ashton to recall him to provide the added leadership and winning quality the team had lacked in recent months, ending a 15 month absence from the international scene. He scored two tries on his return in England's opening victory over Scotland. He also scored another try against the Italians the following week.

On April 2, 2007, Jason Robinson announced he will retire from playing club rugby at the end of the current season. However if selected, he will play for England during the summer and in the 2007 Rugby World Cup before retiring completely from the sport. His last game for Sale Sharks came at home to Bath on Friday the 13th April. Robinson said, “ I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Sale Sharks but the time has come to move on to other things. I want my last game for Sale Sharks to be a home game (v Bath) and want to be able to say a big thank you to the supporters of this great club.”

On 13th April 2007, Jason Robinson ended his glittering club career with a match-winning try 10 seconds from time as Sale edged past Bath in the Guinness Premiership. In the last play of the game, he received the ball 30 metres out and couldn't be stopped. He was then given the opportunity to convert the try, only to miss by a matter of inches past the left post.

External links

• Sporting heroes 1
• Sporting heroes 2

Notes

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/english/4279628.stm
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/english/6308957.stm

Template:England 1995 Rugby League World Cup Squad

• 1974 births
• Living people
• English rugby union footballers
• English rugby league players
• Dual code rugby internationals
• Rugby union fullbacks
• Rugby union wings
• Wigan Warriors players