Kingsholm is the venue this weekend for a highly anticipated derby fixture, as Gloucester Rugby host Bath in the Gallagher Premiership.

Gloucester Rugby Head Coach, George Skivington, knows just how much the derby means to everyone connected to the club.

“I’ve been here long enough now to understand the Gloucester v Bath rivalry.

"It’s a brilliant, longstanding rivalry between two clubs that are just down the road from each other.

“The passion is unbelievable when we play at Kingsholm and at the Rec as well. Our support means a lot to the players, and everyone will be fully committed on Friday.”

It’s set to be Kingsholm’s fourth sell-out of the season, and Skivington says the players always look forward to playing at ‘Holm.

“It’s brilliant, we love playing at Kingsholm and we love the Gloucester Rugby supporters.

“La Rochelle was another great trip; the travelling support was loud and proud but there’s nothing like a sold-out Kingsholm to get the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up.

“It’s going to be really exciting.”

The Cherry & Whites claimed their biggest-ever win over Bath when the sides met at Kingsholm in the Gallagher Premiership last season, but Skivington says they’re not expecting a repeat of that game.

“That was a really special day, but we know they’re a completely different team now, they’re very organised and physical and we can see how they’re building nicely.

“I don’t think last year will have any relevance; it’ll be a really tough game.”

Last time out, the Cherry & Whites were eliminated from the Heineken Champions Cup by reigning champions, La Rochelle. But, Skivington says they were proud of the performance they put in.

“The boys were heroic over there. They gave it everything they had and unfortunately, La Rochelle got over the line right at the end.

“It was tough to swallow at the time, but the boys couldn’t have done any more than they did. They fought unbelievably hard, and they can hold their heads up high.

“There isn’t any lacking in confidence of what we can do and what we’re about, we acknowledge we’ve had some poor performances where we haven’t quite executed our plan but there is certainly some good belief that if we can do what we set out to do we are a good team, and that’s the challenge this week because Bath will be out to make sure we can’t do that.”

The Head Coach praised the attitude of the players to challenge themselves every week.

“There’s a really good group here for not letting wins or losses dictate too much of time.

“There’s obviously a bit of emotion after games either way but we’re pragmatic as to learning from when we are poor and even when we play well. The groups are in a good spot, and they respond well to the feedback and try hard to get better every week."

With just three games of the season remaining, Skivington targets three big performances from his side.

“We’ve got three games left and we know we have to work really hard for the rest of the season.

“We’ve had a bizarre second half to the season, but we’re excited for Friday night at Kingsholm, there's no better place to play.”

"There's nothing like a sold-out Kingsholm" says Skivington

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