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Aviva Premiership
Eastmond plays down Robinson comparison
ESPN Staff
September 14, 2012
Bath's Kyle Eastmond dances through the Wasps defence, Bath v London Wasps, Aviva Premiership, The Recreation Ground, Bath, England, September 8, 2012
Kyle Eastmond scored a memorable try against Wasps © Getty Images
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Players/Officials: Kyle Eastmond | Jason Robinson
Tournaments/Tours: Aviva Premiership
Teams: Bath Rugby | England

Bath's diminutive flyer Kyle Eastmond has played down comparisons between him and former England great Jason Robinson.

Eastmond scored a sensational individual try against Wasps last weekend to announce himself on the Aviva Premiership stage. Coming from rugby league and standing at well under 6', the quick-footed winger immediately drew comparisons with fellow rugby league convert Robinson. The try against Wasps, which involved him beating seven players en route to the try line, cemented this claim further.

The 23-year-old has started both of Bath's games this season but this is his second campaign at the Rec. He was at the West Country club for the whole of the 2011-12 season but it was a year plagued by groin and hamstring trouble and Eastmond admits it was a far from ideal start to his time at the Rec.

"I did feel bad about it all," Eastmond told the Daily Telegraph. "The one thing you want to do when you join a new club, never mind switch to a new sport, is show people that you're there, show your team-mates that you want to work hard, and just get on with it.

"Union's a bigger stage and there are many challenges. Look at the breakdown. It's weird having four or five big blokes over you trying to rip the ball of you. And that's just one aspect. Talk of Jason Robinson or England doesn't mean anything to me. Jason was a legend. I've played four games this season."

But while Eastmond is keen to concentrate on his own game rather than being mentioned in the same breath as some of the sport's illustrious alumni, his new team-mate and former Ospreys prop Paul James has already seen comparisons between Eastmond's style of play and a famous Welsh winger.

"From what I've seen he can make something out of nothing like Shane did," James told the Guardian referring to Shane Williams. "There's no better feeling as a forward than getting up off the floor and seeing one of your little wingers jinking and jiving. Kyle's got that little bit of extra something which not every player has."

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