George’s joy at landing ‘X-factor’ Wade

» GEORGE Skivington has landed the ‘X-factor’ player he was looking for to replace Louis Rees-zammit in the form of ex-england and Wasps wing star Christian Wade.

Gloucester have confirmed the 32-year-old will ber switching Paris and Racing 92 for the Premiership next season having returned to rugby union 18 months ago after a spell looking to make it in the NFL, ironically like the man he has been brought in to effectively replace.

Explaining his thinking behind signing the one-cap England international, who also represented the British and Irish Lions, Cherry and Whites director of rugby Skivington said: “He is a proper X-factor player.

“I think when he left for the NFL he was the top try-scorer in the Premiership, Chris Ashton has obviously surpassed that now.

“He can score tries, he is powerful, he is fast. He is in an incredible condition as an athlete right now.

“He is X-factor and he has worked really hard on having an all-round game which is necessary now for being a Premiership winger.”

Skivington and his coaching staff have certainly done their homework on their summer arrival.

He explained: “Obviously, we lost Zam halfway through this year and we were looking at our back-three anyway but we certainly needed another number [ahead of the 2024/25 season].

“I knew Christian when he was a young academy player [from Skivington’s days as a lock at Wasps], Dom [Waldouck, Gloucester defence coach] has played with him, Trevor [Woodman, Gloucester scrum coach] has coached him, so we know him, we know his character.

“I spoke to Stuart [Lancaster, Racing director of rugby] about him and he said his character and professionalism is outstanding and he has been really outstanding and he would have kept him [at Racing] if he could.

“He is a top bloke, a top pro who works very hard and he brings with him a good bit of experience, not just in the Premiership but he went and tried something different in the NFL and my understanding of that experience is he saw a whole other level of professionalism and different ways of doing things.

“He is delivering on the field now, he is still sharp and looks like he did before he left the Premiership which is great. In terms of character, I think he is a really good fit to bring in.”