In this, the first of a planned series of articles on players from the northern hemisphere who may be less well known, we look at young Welsh winger Harry Robinson.

Harry Robinson has been picked forWales’ game on Tuesday against the Brumbies. Robinson has yet to play an official test match forWales but he did play for Wales against The Barbarians earlier in the month, scoring a good try in the process.

Robinson will possibly struggle to break into the Wales test team for a while with monster wingers Alex Cuthbert and George North around.  However, whoever will be coaching Wales may decide to rotate players at times. Injury can strike at any moment, so who knows Robinson may get his chance on the international stage sooner rather than later.

Many may be wondering who Harry Robinson really is and to answer that we have taken a bit of look around to try find out.

Personal stats.

. Age – 19

. Date and place of birth – 16^th April 1993, Cardiff Wales

. Height – 1.75m

. Weight – 83kg

. Number of appearances for country – 1

. Current club – Cardiff Blues

Harry Robinson started his club career in Wales during the 2010/2011 season for Cardiff Blues. In this season he also turned out for Wales’ u18 and u20 teams.

On the 29^th of January 2011 he became the youngest player ever to play for regional side Cardiff Blues, aged 17 years and 9 months. This was in an LV Cup match at home versus the Ospreys, a game which ended in a 7-29 defeat forCardiff.

Rugby seems to run in the family as Robinson’s father Justin played for Pontypridd.

Harry Robinson seems to have a good head on his shoulders and is trying to keep interests up outside of rugby too, studying Biology at the moment at night school.

From Robinson’s statistics it looks as if he is a short, stocky man, so it is no wonder that the comparisons to star Welsh winger Shane Williams have already been made.

Wales’ caretaker coach Rob Howley was raving about Harry Robinson’s performance after the Barbarians match and likened him to none other than retiring star winger Shane Williams.

Howley praised Robinson’s pace and ability to beat his opponent as well him being a player for is able to create opportunities for others. Howley  believes although he has a lot to learn, that his ability to run with the ball is that of an international player.

In the most glowing of praise Howley also had this to say about the man:  “He was Shane-esque in that every time he had the ball the crowd reacted to him.

It sounds like Robinson is also a player who tries to do a lot of work off the ball and so seems to be the ideal team man. He does seem to need to work on his defence.

Robinson was due to play for Wales u20 in the IRB Junior World Championship, currently being held in South Africa. Instead he was included in Wales’ senior squad for their tour of Australia.

His endearing characteristic of seeming to be a great team player was evident when he mentioned his great delight in seeing his u20 team mates defeating New Zealand and wishing he could have been there to celebrate with him.

Heading into the Barbarians game Robinson spoke about the great man Williams, acknowledging how good Williams was and at times almost seemed to sound quite star struck (courtesy of dailypost) :

“I am glad I got to play against him for the Blues against the Ospreys earlier this season, but I think playing against him on the international stage I will be a bit petrified!” Robinson said.

“I kind of know what to expect from Shane – you expect the unexpected. It’s going to be a great test for me.

It also seems as if Robinson is looking to emulate the way Williams plays:

“I try to almost play like Shane, stepping away from tackles and such, so he has been a big inspiration to the way I play.

“He is an incredible player and he is finishing his career off on such a high note, but I am going to try to spoil the party!

“I don’t know if it is written in the stars that he’s meant to score a try against Wales, but I will be doing everything I can to try to stop him.”

Will Harry live up to the hype? Who knows maybe one day Robinson will do his talent justice and end being spoken of in the same breath as Shane Williams who boasts the record of scoring the second highest number of international tries.

There is still a long way for him to go, and hopefully there is not too much pressure heaped on him to be the same as Williams along the way.

The link below shows the try that Robinson scored against the Barbarians,  and he certainly looks to be a good runner and finisher.

It is interesting to note the move that ended in the try started off by Wales gaining possesion, after Williams lost the ball in a tackle. One wonders if this is indeed a good omen for Robinson.

Harry Robinson’s try for Wales against Barbarians