Gloucester Rugby travel to Newcastle this weekend to face the Falcons in Round Six of the Gallagher Premiership. Ahead of the fixture, Head Coach George Skivington faced to media to preview the game.

Lessons from Sale Sharks

“From our point of view when we look at the game from the weekend, we played good rugby and for 78 minutes of the game we were winning. We were extremely disappointed with the outcome of it.

“If we break it down as a game, there’s some bits in the first half where we felt we didn’t maximise the pressure we had Sale under and there were probably 15 minutes at the start of the second half where good teams always have a good patch. We just about dealt with it but we probably weren’t strong enough in that period to rule out any things that were out of our control at the back end of the game.”

Taking on Newcastle

“Newcastle have had an outstanding start back in the Premiership and they are a well organised team who play really good rugby and I take my hat off to them. Their set piece is very good and they play to their strengths.

“They’ve come up angry with a point to prove and it shows in their performances. I thought they were actually really good against Bristol and they had a few players off but they delivered a really comprehensive game. Bristol are obviously an extremely good team and managed to win. I don’t think Newcastle’s frame of mind will have changed from where it was from when they first came up.”

On Newcastle’s DoR, Dean Richards

“He’s been around a little bit longer than me and he’s won lots of things and has seen lots of areas of the game. It’s a challenge. We’ve got lots of experience in the room as a coaching team albeit not as much as Dean’s but we’re doing our best at picking Newcastle apart and we know it’s a big challenge. They’re well drilled and he’s got a hold of it and knows what areas make a good Premiership team and what to focus and put your energy into.

“Our challenge is to match them and work out where we can break them down.”

On new signing Andrew Davidson

“He’s a young Scottish lock and he’s got a really good skill set. He’s been around a little bit now, he’s obviously been at Newcastle and he’s been up to Scotland and we’ve been really impressed with what we’ve seen of him up there and pre going up there. He’s someone I’ve tracked for a little while and we’re really excited that he wants to come to Gloucester Rugby.”

Press Notes | George Skivington: “We know it’s a big challenge"

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