Foundations are in place George upbeat despite missing play-offs
DESPITE an emphatic 54-7 last-day victory over Saracens, Gloucester will have to prepare to fight again next season for some silverware after finishing outside the top four this campaign.
A jam-packed Kingsholm was treated to a scintillating attacking display from the Cherry and Whites, who ran in eight tries to overpower a weakened Saracens side, who rested most of their first team having already secured a home semi-final.
Saracens, who will host Harlequins in the play-offs next weekend, rested England internationals like Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Billy Vunipola and Elliot Daly, and they fell to their second-heaviest defeat in Premiership history.
Gloucester were outstanding throughout, setting up a comprehensive success through first-half tries from hooker Jack Singleton, flanker
Jordy Reid and full-back Santiago Carreras.
Northampton’s emphatic win against Newcastle gave them the final play-off spot, with Gloucester finishing fifth after a season when they have made considerable strides under head coach George Skivington.
Saracens had no answer, with Gloucester superior in all departments, and second-half tries were added by Singleton, replacement hooker Santiago Socino, Ollie Thorley, his fellow wing Louis Rees-zammit and flanker Jack Clement, while fly-half Adam Hastings kicked seven conversions.
A Max Malins try and a Manu Vunipola conversion provided Saracens’ solitary points.
Head coach Skivington remained upbeat, however, maintaining his stance that his side must continue to improve regardless of who they come up against.
“Sneaking in the play-offs would have been ideal, obviously, but I think in terms of what we could control I thought it was a really tight-knit performance,” he said.
“We wanted to get some maul drives going and our defence to be top-notch.
“We wanted to give a proper performance. The rest of it was always going to take care of itself, and it hasn’t fallen our way.
“I thought the boys stuck to process really well. I am very proud of them.
“Sometimes when you get ahead, it is very easy to ease up, but out of respect for everyone who comes here week in, week out, it was important to stick to what we are about.
“There is a huge amount for us to work on. If we want to be a top team year after year, we’ve got to get better in a lot of areas.
“The foundation is that we have a really good group of players who work really hard. There are good people, good leaders in there.
“The result was always going to take care of itself one way or the other and it didn’t fall our way, but we know the areas we have to be better in terms of ways we can get ourselves into the playoffs but I couldn’t ask for much more out of this group.
“I thought we took our opportunities really well, and we actually took a huge amount from the Saracens game a couple of weeks ago.
It was once again the Cherry and Whites’ heartbeat, the driving maul, that drew the plaudits, something that has been a constant threat for Gloucester all year.
According to Skivington however, it isn’t just the maul that has yielded such positive rewards across the pitch this season.
He explained: “The maul has been great, which is down to the boys and the amount of work they put into it and ownership they have of it.
“It’s also great to see some more fluid tries, you look at Jordy’s kick for Louis, it’s entertaining for everybody but I think we stuck to process really well which is important and makes my job a bit easier.
“Defensively we were very good and our set-piece also. I need some time to step back and reflect because its difficult to do that when you are targeting a game as much as we have been because we just wanted to stay focused.”
After last season’s disappointing 11th place finish, this season has brought a renewed vigour around Kingsholm, as the group of players under Skivington look to be driving the club back towards the right end of the Premiership.
It is in fact the coherence and tightknit nature of this squad that has put the club back towards challenging for the top honours both domestically and in Europe, according to Skivington.
“We might lose a game or be in a tight game, but they will not stop working.
“I enjoyed it even last year. It was a great test of the conviction of what I was doing and everybody showed me last year that I saw some really good people and some unbelievable work ethic but it wasn’t quite going our way.
“I’ve seen the same again this year and its not been perfect but you can expect the same group to come in again at the start of pre-season and do it all again and work really really hard.”
If we want to be a top team year after year, we’ve got to get better in a lot of areas.