Gloucester aim to end the wait for silverware
GLOUCESTER stand 80 minutes away from one of their preseason objectives as Leicester Tigers come to Kingsholm on Friday in the final of the Premiership Rugby Cup.
Silverware has been sparse at the Cherry and Whites in recent years and everyone at the club knows there will be few better chances to win a trophy than this weekend with the game on their home turf thanks to Gloucester’s unbeaten run through the pool stages.
Especially considering the disappointing league campaign so far, with the Cherry and Whites sat ninth in the Premiership table having started the season hoping to be title contenders, Friday represents a huge moraleboosting opportunity for a club already heading in the right direction according to those inside the camp.
“It is a massive week for us,” Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington said: “We set out at the beginning of the season not to play pre-season games but giving players the opportunity to play in the Prem Cup, but with a view to win all our games.
“We did that and it is nice to be in the final, that was the goal.
“It is massive, particularly with it being at Kingsholm.
“It is brilliant for the supporters to be able to bring a final here.
“We saw that with the women last summer playing knockout rugby here. It was a great day and it is a real boost for us to be at home.”
On Friday night, following Gold Cup day just up the road at Cheltenham, Skivington anticipates Kingsholm will be bouncing.
He added: “There are only three competitions you are in each season so to get to the final of one of those is very exciting.
“The boys are pretty calm and composed.
“We have worked very hard on our game over the last few months about where to spend our energy and we have just got to get that right on Friday night.”
Both sides with be shorn of some of their top stars due to a combination of Six Nations call-ups, injuries and the tournament rules.
Anyone who didn’t play in the pool stages can’t play in the knockout rounds - that means players who were at the World Cup like Chris Harris, Albert Tuisue, Santi Carreras and Matias Alemanno can’t be used.
However that also rules out a certain Handre Pollard for Tigers as well so both sides will be impacted.
The Slater Cup, which is competed for between Leicester and Gloucester when the two sides meet in the league in support of former captain Ed Slater who is battling motor neurone disease, will not be up for grabs this weekend, but one side is finishing with a trophy for the cabinet.