For a sense of just how long overdue Dan Robson’s first England cap is, Dai Young’s explanation for taking him off in the latter stages of Wasps’ defeat by Leinster on Sunday is revealing. “I wouldn’t live with myself if he got a bump in the last 12 minutes.”

Granted Wasps’ European campaign was long since over at the point Robson made way but Young is in the majority in thinking his scrum-half’s international debut ought to have come some time ago. It would probably have arrived last autumn, only for an ankle injury to rule him out of England’s entire campaign, but as one of only two scrum-halves in Eddie Jones’s Six Nations squad it will surely come against Ireland.

It is some show of faith from Jones to leave out both Danny Care and Richard Wigglesworth because Robson was little more than a passenger when selected for last summer’s tour of South Africa. “It is a nice vote of confidence when there are only two of you. I haven’t been involved like that yet, so it will be good to get some reps over the next fortnight and put my hand up,” said Robson, who revealed he learned of his call-up last Thursday morning from his partner Liz. “I was still half-asleep. It was a nice way to wake up.

“Good things don’t come easy. It’s part of the journey I’ve had to go through. It has been frustrating but Eddie has seen stuff I need to work on; my time wasn’t right. But hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can get on the field and really cement my place.”

With Care omitted, the Six Nations represents Robson’s chance to convince Jones he is at least his go-to bench option behind Ben Youngs. It has taken the Wasps scrum-half a long time to emerge from Jones’s blind spot but to his credit he has done so by staying true to his livewire style of play. “I’ve always stuck to my guns, tried to play attacking rugby and always back myself,” said Robson. “I feel like I’ve been doing that still. I have bided my time a lot and for me it is about getting an opportunity and nailing it down.”

Jones was in the stands to watch Robson’s performance against Leinster and a tranche of Ireland players who will face England on 2 February. He will have been impressed by Robson’s second-half try but perhaps more so that he was able to impress behind a pack that came off second best. “All big European games are another notch up. It’s probably the closest thing you can get to international rugby without playing it,” said Robson. “As a No 9 it’s easy to get going when you’re on the front foot all the time. When you’re on the back foot, you’ve got to do things differently.”

Jones, meanwhile, has been boosted with the news Joe Launchbury is recovering well from the neck injury sustained on Sunday while he is still mulling over whether to add fly-half cover for the forthcoming training camp in Portugal in light of Owen Farrell’s thumb surgery. Ireland have mounting problems in the second row with Munster’s Tadhg Beirne out of the first two rounds of the Six Nations with a knee injury and Iain Henderson set for several weeks on the sidelines with a finger injury. Hamish Watson has dropped out of Scotland’s squad with a hand injury.