Gloucester Anticipates “Massive” Challenge from Edinburgh

Gloucester, under director of rugby George Skivington, was the sole team to achieve victory in all four of their Challenge Cup pool stage matches during the previous season. Skivington foresees a “really intense” contest as the Premiership club commences its Challenge Cup season at home against Edinburgh this Friday. Last season, when these familiar adversaries clashed in the pool stage, Zach Mercer’s try in the 74th minute secured a 21-20 away victory for Gloucester. This result preserved their flawless European record, which they maintained until their loss to Sharks in the final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “We’ve got a serious outfit coming here on Friday night,” stated Skivington during an interview with BBC Radio Gloucestershire, referencing his team’s 33-26 pre-season loss in Edinburgh. He added, “Edinburgh are a massive challenge and basically the Scottish team. I’m really excited by it.” Skivington further commented, “We had a great game with them in pre-season – it was a real helter-skelter, entertaining match.” “They play some good rugby. Both games were very competitive – very, very intense, fast games,” he continued. He also mentioned, “I’m sure they’ve got some tricks up their sleeves and we’ve got some ideas of how we can expose them.” Skivington concluded his remarks on Edinburgh by saying, “There are a lot of proud Scotsmen in there and they’ll no doubt want a bit of revenge for last season’s game.” Louis Rees-Zammit scored during Gloucester’s 21-20 triumph against Edinburgh on 13 January, in what was his final appearance before his departure to become an NFL player. Gloucester approaches the upcoming match positioned fifth in the Premiership, having recently halted Northampton Saints’ 17-match home winning streak with a 25-17 win at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday. Skivington disclosed that number eight Mercer and wing Ollie Thorley are currently using crutches and are scheduled for scans to assess knee injuries incurred during the recent victory. Despite these setbacks, he expressed satisfaction with the displays of his squad’s fringe players and intends to rotate his team for the Challenge Cup fixtures. “They haven’t lost there in over a year, so to hold them out in the second half in the way that we did was great,” he remarked, reflecting on the team’s turnaround after a 90-0 defeat at Northampton in May. He elaborated, “We saw the best on both sides of the ball; we attacked really well in the first half and got really tested defensively in the second half. The character in collisions and the workrate was outstanding.” Skivington continued, “We’d like a bit of balance – not one half attack, one half defend – but the good thing is we’ve shown our mettle and how much it means. You don’t fight that hard unless you’ve got a common cause and a really good group who are tight-knit.” “It gives us a good benchmark. We knew Saints was the ultimate test, to see if we could go there and match their game that was so impressive last season,” he added. He concluded his thoughts on the Northampton game by stating, “It wasn’t the complete performance that we were shooting for, but there were lots of good signs there.” Last season, Sean Everitt’s Edinburgh secured a victory over Bayonne at Murrayfield, which led to a quarter-final match against the eventual champions, Sharks, in Durban, where they lost 36-30. Currently, Edinburgh holds the eighth position in the United Rugby Championship, having recorded three wins and four losses in their seven matches. The team boasts Ross Thompson as the leading points scorer and Ben Muncaster as the joint-top try scorer in this season’s competition. Scotland’s record try-scorer, Duhan van der Merwe, leads the Championship in clean breaks this season; however, coach Sean Everitt is projected to introduce multiple alterations to the squad in adherence to player rest protocols. Skivington remarked on Edinburgh’s strengths, stating, “They’re very good at set pieces and strong defensively.” He added, “In attack, they can spark things out of nothing.” “We saw that in pre-season: we had a pretty good hold on the game and they just sparked a couple of tries out of nowhere,” he recalled. He further noted, “They’ve got a couple of class names and some big players who performed really well in the autumn.” “The way they found tries is what we’ve got to be cautious of. They’ve got a powerful pack and a lot of seasoned internationals and size – they’re big, big men,” Skivington warned. Gloucester’s subsequent Challenge Cup fixtures include an away match against reigning French second-tier champions Vannes on 14 December, followed by hosting Scarlets on 10 January, and concluding their initial group stage games at Bayonne nine days thereafter. “We have some great memories of last year and there is a beauty in playing teams you don’t know that well,” Skivington commented. He added, “We’ll go hard on Friday and know, after these two weeks, where we stand in Europe.” Skivington emphasized, “It’s very, very difficult in these European competitions if you don’t get points out of your first two games.”