Exeter Chief in rugby and academic Flo
Exeter Chiefs scrum-half Flo Robinson is desperate to follow in the footsteps of childhood hero Danny Care and represent England.
Robinson was called up to the England squad for the 2021 TikTok Women's Six Nations as a development player, having played at both U18 and U20 level.
Now the 21-year-old, whose sister Emily plays for Harlequins, knows what an England training camp feels like and she is desperate to impress Simon Middleton and get back into the squad.
She said: "It was amazing to be involved in that squad, I think when I first went in, it was a bit of shock, because I had only started two or three premiership games.
"So I didn't have the most experience when I first went in, so that was a bit of a shock.
"After that though I really enjoyed it and just the environment of being around players of such a high intensity I really enjoyed.
"It was definitely a great learning experience for me and hopefully I have taken some of those things back to club, but it was really enjoyable and something to learn from."
Scrum-half is a not a position that Middleton is short of, with the likes of Lucy Packer, Natasha Hunt and Leanne Infante all starring at various stages throughout the last few years.
And Robinson is aware that she does have some work to do to be selected ahead of them.
"It is difficult, you have some of the older ones and then of course you have Lucy Packer, who I think you can probably say plays in quite a similar way to me," added Robinson.
"When I play, my aim is to play with really quick ball and someone like Lucy delivers that, but she is a bit fitter and a bit more accurate.
"With scrum-half it is sometimes difficult, because it is just the basics you need to improve on because at the end of the day, 99% of what you do is just passing off the floor.
"So for me, it is just going to be the accuracy of all of my basics, your box kick, your pass, but because that takes up so much time of what you are doing, it is so important.
"I'd also say I lack an attacking kicking game which the other scrum-halves tend to have, and that is definitely something I need to improve on."
Many people reach their third year at university and are unaware of what path they will take next professionally, and that is no different for Robinson, who is in her final year at Exeter University.
With that uncertainty in her academic and professional life, she has seen a slight shift in her approach to chasing her sporting goals, although she admits that nothing will ever stop her dreaming of playing international rugby.
She said: "A few years ago I was much more long term, when I was in U20s, I was like 'I want to get capped for U20s and then get capped for England.'
"Now my focus and goals haven't changed, but being at uni and being in final year, I'd say I have had a shift to be more short term focused and right now my focus is on trying to figure out what I am doing next year.
"Rugby is still important and it will always play a role, but just for the moment, for the next six months or so, the academic side of my life is a bit more important to me.
"That is not to say rugby is not a focus of mine at all, but it is hard to say long term goals when I do not know what I am going to be doing next year outside of rugby!"
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