Cardiff flanker Olly Robinson says he is “absolutely gutted” to have missed out on making his Barbarians debut following the cancellation of Saturday’s game against Samoa at Twickenham.
The fixture was called off just 90 minutes before the scheduled kick-off time because of six positive Covid tests in the BaaBaas camp, four players and two members of staff.
They still had 23 fit players who had all tested negative - including Robinson - but Public Health England ruled the game could not go ahead on medical grounds.
Read more: Get the latest on Cardiff and the Scarlets' Covid nightmare here
“I was absolutely gutted,” said the popular Arms Park forward.
“It would have been an incredible experience to play for the BaaBaas at Twickenham.
“But, thankfully, I am healthy.”
Robinson’s father Andy, a former Barbarians player and coach, was going to be in the crowd watching along with family members, having just returned from Romania where he is the coach to the national team.
But unfortunately it wasn’t to be.
Yet despite the sense of deep disappointment, it’s still a week that Olly will remember fondly.
“I was incredibly honoured and privileged to be invited,” said the 30-year-old.
“I am quite a traditionalist and obviously with the history of my dad playing for the BaaBaas it’s really special to me.
“I was really grateful to Dai (Young) and the rest of the guys at Cardiff for allowing me to do it.
“I had such a great week. It was awesome, just a brilliant experience.
“To be rubbing shoulders with some of the guys there was like a dream come true for me.
“To be able to share a beer with people from different parts of the world and find out more about what makes them tick and their lives. You very rarely get that in professional rugby.
“They were all really great people.
“I was sharing with Duane Vermeulen.
“I was almost starstruck being in a room with him, but he is a lovely bloke. It was awesome.”
Robinson’s father, Andy, the former England and Lions flanker, played 11 times for the Barbarians, including tours of Russia and Japan, plus an outing against Australia.
“His advice was take a lot of paracetamol and drink a lot of water during the day!” quipped Olly.
“He almost lost a hand on one tour in a drinking incident.
“He put his hand in a fan in a pub at some point after he got stitched up by some Russians who were pretending to drink vodka while he was drinking it!”
Robinson had been particularly looking forward to lining up against Samoa as he hasn’t featured for Cardiff so far this season.
“That’s another reason I was desperate to play,” he said.
“It would have been great to get on the pitch and play some rugby.
“Everyone wants to play, so it has been frustrating this season.
“I’m a rugby player at the end of the day and desperate to play as much as possible.
“I have done an awful lot of work on my fitness and I’m feeling in a great place in my body.”
Openside Robinson has made 79 appearances for the Arms Park-based region since first linking up with them in 2017.
As for what the future holds, he replied: “I am a Cardiff player and have really enjoyed my time there.
“What comes in the future will happen in the future.”
