And for heaven's sake, let's not have these people playing the weekend before a Test. I have less sympathy with teams who sign proven international players and then moan when they're picked for a Test match. That makes no sense to me at all."We have to understand the sacrifices that are inherent in the professional game. If a player wants to perform at international level, it involves a sacrifice by his family and a sacrifice by his club That's obvious to me. But I'm loath to criticise Sale, especially, because they have done a great deal to develop young English players and the Test calls really hurt them last season. I want to see Matt Stevens starting for Bath, because he's an important player for England. As we have a dearth of scrum-halves, I'd love to see Sale play Ben Foden, who is highly regarded by some very good judges.
I get DVDs of every Premiership match and I watch them very closely. Even that has its frustrations, because there are some players I'd like to see playing more. And even in that second half, there were what amounted to time-outs before every set piece. That simply doesn't happen in today's international rugby, because the referees won't allow you to slow things down in that way. It is vital the clubs appreciate the importance of this and build elements into their games that raise the whole thing up a level."Over the last few weeks, ever since the club-country issue kicked off with the row over the Lions' tourists 11-week rest period and the RFU's decision to withhold £135,000 in compensation payments from the sides who refused to play ball, Robinson has been in the thick of the political conflict.He describes his relationship with the 12 top-flight directors of rugby as "not bad", which represents something of a decline, given his high standing in Premiership circles when he succeeded Woodward a little over a year ago.
There was some terrific entertainment in the second half and I can see how the spectators were gripped by it, but the first half was pretty dire. If England are to be successful again, we need everyone on board with regards to the new rugby. The old ways won't do any more."In terms of pace and intensity, Premiership rugby isn't particularly close to Test level now Take the Bath-Gloucester game last weekend. As a result we lost a couple of matches we might easily have won. Now, we have no choice but to expand our horizons, because the international game has moved on This is what the Premiership clubs must understand.
