Jason Robinson is finest remembered for scoring in England’s victory over Australia within the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup ultimate in Sydney however he additionally has fond recollections of his essential strive towards the Kangaroos at Wembley eight years earlier.
His strive within the opening match of the 1995 Rugby League World Cup helped England to a shock 20-16 win over Australia in entrance of a 41,271 crowd on the nationwide stadium and sparked enormous curiosity in the remainder of the event.
“It almost opened it up,” recalled Robinson. “It certainly made a difference, with people thinking, ‘hang on a minute, there’s a chance’.”
England, coached by Phil Larder, went on to beat Fiji and South Africa to high their group and, after overcoming Wales within the semi-finals, went on to satisfy Australia once more at Wembley within the ultimate, this time in entrance of 66,540 followers, however suffered a 16-8 loss.
Robinson added: “We went on to play Wales which was a very physical game and we really thought we could beat Australia again.
“We didn’t give them an easy ride but I don’t know whether that first game had taken it out of us or prodded them to be much better in the final.
“To get to a World Cup final at the first attempt was massive for me.”
Robinson virtually didn’t play within the World Cup after being caught up within the Super League conflict that ripped the sport aside Down Under.
In 1995 the Leeds-born Wigan winger was supplied a four-year deal value a reported £1.25million by the Australian Rugby League (ARL) to play within the nation from the top of the 1997 season.
Robinson’s Wigan team-mate Gary Connolly was one other high-profile participant who was prized away from Australian clutches to face a Kangaroos group that was disadvantaged of gamers who stayed loyal to the ARL.
“I think they must have done some deal to allow players to play for England and I’m so glad because it was my first Rugby League World Cup and it’s the biggest tournament you’ll ever play in,” Robinson mentioned.
“You want to play the best teams, you want to play on the big stage and you want to test yourself. It was a home World Cup.
“I remember a couple of things, one was playing South Africa, I don’t know for how long they had a team so that was different because you get used to playing the same teams.
“What really was a big thing was when we beat Australia in our group game. That was always going to be the sticking point in terms of progression. It was such a massive lift for us as a team.
“To progress all the way to the final and come up against Australia again. We thought, ‘we’ve beaten them once, we can beat them again’.
“Obviously it wasn’t meant to be but I have some great memories of some unbelievable players like Shaun Edwards, Lee Jackson, Martin Offiah, some real key names in there that on their day.”
Source: www.impartial.co.uk