Dursley youngsters live the Twickenham dream

9:17am Thursday 15th May 2008

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JACK Robson described the moment that he scored a try on his Twickenham debut as "a dream come true."

The Dursley youngster took just 53 seconds to make an impact on his first ever appearance at the home of English rugby, as he set Gloucestershire under-20's on their way to an unlikely 26-17 victory against red-hot favourites Yorkshire on Saturday.

He was amongst four other Dursley heroes Ollie Winterbottom, Ben Morgan, Stef Hawley, and Rob Winchle, who all helped the county win an epic match.

Robson, 19, said: "I tried not to think about it at the time, but it was really surreal like a dream come true situation. It didn't feel like it really happened."

Robson gathered a loose ball after a Yorkshire kick was charged down before going over the line to score, and he told the Gazette of the moment he gathered the ball in his arms and diving in for the crucial first try.

He said: "First of all I felt panic because I did not want to get it wrong, and I was close to the touchline, so I just wanted to get the ball over the line without going into touch."

Robson, who plays his senior rugby for Cinderford 2nds, said that he thought about his English rugby heroes when getting ready to run onto the hallowed Twickenham turf.

He said: "It was brilliant to have everyone watching you, and you think of the great rugby players that have played there"

"To come out of the tunnel and out of the pitch was just amazing, I'm really lucky.

"It's a great place with great facilities, no other ground I have played at can compare to it.

"It was the first time I played at Twickenham and hopefully not the last."

What perhaps made the victory more special for Robson and his Gloucestershire team mates was that Yorkshire were overwhelming favourites to win the match.

The Dursley lock could hardly have been filled with much confidence by some of the things he was being told before kick-off, but he believes that being second favourites may have worked in Gloucestershire's favour.

He said: "We were sharing a hotel with the team playing Hartpury College on the same day and their coach was telling us it was impossible to beat Yorkshire, and one of my friends who played for Lancashire said no way'.

"I think being underdogs helped. You just try and relax and it's a normal game of rugby once you get out there.

"Yorkshire seemed very confident, almost arrogant, but I was quite confident we would win."

Now the amazing Twickenham experience is behind him, Robson, who has represented Dursley at youth levels since he was seven-years-old, aims to break into the Cinderford side.

They have just been promoted to national division two, and the youngster admits he still has ambitions to go on and play at the highest level.

He said: "It would be my dream to play for Gloucester or England, you never know, but at the moment I'm just concentrating on breaking into the Cinderford first team."