Today’s the day of the year when fans get out their diaries and block out match weekends, as the Aviva Premiership fixtures were announced earlier. For Gloucester, the longest trip of the season is up first as they will make the long trip up north to visit Newcastle Falcons, a fixture they traditionally struggle in. It will therefore be a good mark of how the team has built and improved over the summer as the club looks to push towards a top six finish. However, we will have to wait until mid-October for the first round of games, as the start of the season is delayed until the end of the World Cup group stages.
Perhaps then it may be a good time to face the trophy holders Saracens in round two, who will likely have a number of their players still involved in the World Cup. Of course Gloucester won this fixture in dramatic style last season, with a James Hook penalty sealing a 24-23 win in January. Then follows a local derby as newly-promoted Worcester Warriors make the short trip across the county border in round three.
For every Cherry and White fan though, the fixture they search out first is the home game against rivals Bath, which this season will keep them waiting until the end of March, but with the reverse fixture only a month before. This game is usually a sell out at Kingsholm, and the home crowd will be hoping to battle Bath for positioning in the table instead of just local bragging rights.
Other standout fixtures include Gloucester’s first involvement in the Harlequins Big Game at Twickenham, which is sure to be a great occasion, falling as it does on the 27th December. The previous seven iterations have averaged attendances of over 75,000, so there should be a large festive crowd on the day. The Cherry and Whites look set to participate in London Irish’s annual St Patrick’s Day fixture as well, with this game falling on the weekend following the 17th March. This may actually be a disadvantage as the Madejski Stadium has been a happy hunting ground in recent years, but with the bumper home crowd and party atmosphere, the Exiles may be a tougher proposition than usual.
It is always worth looking at the run-in, and it looks like Gloucester will have to fulfil their top six – or even top four – ambitions the hard way by playing five of last season’s top six in their final games. Following the West Country derby there are trips to Leicester and Sale, with a tough looking game against 2014 champions Northampton Saints to finish at Kingsholm. Without the guaranteed victories against London Welsh this season, teams will have to take every game seriously, meaning it could be a very exciting season for supporters. We will just have to hope that the international players are able to perform at the highest level following the World Cup, although in the absence of an LV Cup competition this year it may see the breakthrough appearances by the stars of the future coming in the Premiership itself.
Overall it looks as though we are in for a very exciting season down at Kingsholm, where we hope that our team will be able to string together good performances more consistently than last; helping us move up the table in an ever more competitive league.
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