Western Daily Press (Saturday)
No one puts pressure on more than me – George
game with Bristol Bears, who share an equally poor record and sit just one place higher in the league table, Skivington said: “I understand my job is to take the brunt of it, and I always will. I would never hide away from anything. I just stay focused, keep motivating the boys, keep trying to push the team on. I am confident it will come together. We’ve had lots of bumps and good times as a group over the last couple of years, so we are a tight unit, and in these hard times that really shines through.”
Asked whether he was feeling a growing sense of pressure as the defeats mount up, Skivington said: “No one puts more pressure on me than me. You live and breathe the job. Even when you are winning you are lumping pressure on yourself to make sure you get the next win or make sure you have the right players coming through to provide cover.
“The pressure doesn’t really change for me because it is always there, and if you don’t want that on you then don’t be a director of rugby.
“Losing takes over your life because it is very hard for anyone to shake it, even on your day off you are thinking about winning. That is the life of a sportsperson or coach. The pressure is always there.”
Ackermann and Lloyd Evans have both recovered from injury to take their places in the starting XV at Bristol this afternoon.
Ackermann joins Jack Clement and club captain Lewis Ludlow in the back row, while Evans is at fullback with Ollie Thorley and Louis Rees-Zammit on the wings.
Mark Atkinson and Max Llewellyn are picked at centre, while Stephen Varney and Santi Carreras are the Gloucester half-backs.
Mayco Vivas, Santi Socino, Fraser Balmain, Arthur Clark and Matias Alemanno make up the front five.
For hosts Bristol, Steven Luatua returns from injury to make only his second appearance of the season as Pat Lam makes two changes.
In the other alteration, Harry
Thacker returns at hooker, with Jake Heenan and George Kloska on the bench for the derby encounter at Ashton Gate.
Bears director of rugby Lam said: “It’s great to finally have Stevie back as I know he and all of the players are keen to secure a derby win for our supporters.”