Western Daily Press (Saturday)
It’s going to be a really hard game – Skivington
GLOUCESTER Rugby head coach George Skivington does not view the Gallagher Premiership table as the most useful indicator of what he can expect from West Country rivals Bath today.
While the sixth-placed Cherry & Whites are battling to make the top four in order to compete for the title, old rivals Bath prop up the division in 13th place.
Skivington, however, is wary of the Blue, Black & Whites, who ought to have beaten Northampton last week when blowing a 19-point advantage.
The Gloucester chief said: “Bath were dominant in their last game for a big period of time.
“They’ve got a quality squad and some great players in that team. They’ve got players who can do some very special things and we’ve seen that every time we’ve played them.
“From that point of view, it’s going to be a really hard derby game. It’s going to be tough and it’s going to be fast and furious.
“We’ve just got to focus on our own game and I think we’ve got to get the fundamentals right. We’ve done that for most of the season.
“Hopefully we push our game through and work hard and see where it takes us.”
There are five changes to the XV that lost to Bristol last time out, with front rowers Harry Elrington, Jack Singleton, Kirill Gotovtsev coming into the starting line-up, along with back rower Ben Morgan, as Ruan Ackermann switches positions to blindside flanker. The back line is unchanged.
For Bath, Miles Reid will make his 50th appearance for the club. The 23-year-old homegrown flanker debuted for the Blue, Black & Whites in January 2018 and has developed into an integral player in the squad.
He is joined in the back row by England international Sam Underhill, who returns looking to add to his six tries scored this season.
Underhill is just behind Will Muir on Bath’s try-scoring list. The wing has seven tries to his name and lines up in a back three alongside Tom De Glanville and Joe Cokanasiga – both of whom have five scores.
The remaining members of the starting XV began the match against Northampton Saints last time out, with Charlie Ewels leading the Blue, Black & Whites.