Tim Taylor confirmed that Gloucester remain fit and have no fresh injury worries, despite Henry Purdy leaving the field in the second half for what looked like a dead leg. This will be good news for Gloucester fans as they head into a vital Saracens test next Friday.
No injury News ahead of vital Saracens test
Taylor stated that he ”is happy with how the boys performed. It rained a lot before the game, it was a really greasy ball, the skill set shown by the boys was really good.”
Taylor confirmed that the tie was used as a warm-up for the Saracens league match next Friday. He said, ”You either give the boys two weeks off or we bring them in and give them a bit of game time in prep for next week.
“Fortunately we didn’t pick up any injuries, which is a good sign.”
The key point Taylor made was that Gloucester remain fit ahead of their clash with Saracens next Friday. He was happy with Man of the Match Jake Polledri’s performance, saying ”he’s growing game by game, his confidence is getting better and better.”
Taylor has also targeted the Anglo Welsh Cup, in light of the announcement that Kingsholm will host the final. ”It’s massively important for the team and the club, especially having the final at home. It shows that with the team we put out today, that we want to go out and win it. It’s also a good competition for boys to get game time or for those coming back from injury.”
Man of The Match surprised by Try
Man of the Match Jake Polledri was one of the younger names given game time, and he proved his worth. He was happy with how he and his team performed. ”Really good from start to finish. They kept us out in the first twenty minutes, but we managed to keep the foot on the accelerator.
“They came at us with decent line speed, but we gave it twenty minutes and then we ran in some decent tries. The forward dominance really helped us there.”
Polledri was slightly surprised at the space he was given, saying;
”It’s always good to score, especially here at Kingsholm. I found myself in space, which I didn’t think I would, and I had the wheels to finish.”
He has found being influenced by the more experienced figures in the squad a good factor whilst being on the pitch. ”In the open play there’s always a lot of chat on what to do, just learning, even through training. It’s good to learn, being a sponge and absorbing everything.”
Thorley Pleased with ‘Proper’ Return
This was Ollie Thorley’s first full game of action for around five weeks, and he was in a good mood entering the press suite, greeting each of the media individually with a handshake.
”It’s brilliant to get back out and just to get the adrenaline pumping again.
“It was a good game to go into, the forwards were dominant in the set piece. I love playing so it’s great to get back out there,” was the pleasing comments from the Glaws player.
Thorley was happy with his own performance, but was quick to praise the team’s overall performance. ”The main objective in rugby is the team. We set out for the bonus point win and individually, I was pleased with how I went. You always like to get more ball and score more tries as a winger. Sometimes it’s for other people to score tries, and we did [well] today.”
He remains fully focused on what lies ahead and believes Gloucester will be ready for Saracens: “It’s put us in a good place, we did the things we wanted to do. There was an element of trying things in this game to see how they worked out and they worked well.”
Skivington happy, despite Defeat
London Irish forwards coach George Skivington was happy with what he saw, despite the heavy defeat. ‘”When I saw the side that Gloucester put out, I had a little bit of shock. But I just said to the young lads ‘lets see what you’re made of’. They got stuck in, their heads never went down.
“They were out-muscled a little bit at the scrum, but I’m really positive about what I needed to see out of the game.”
Cook and Basham stood out, with them both playing the full 80 minutes. Skivington said ”I told them, that’s pretty much an Aviva Premiership team they played there and they’ll take some good lessons out of it.
“Now they know the physicality level they have to get to and how hard they have to work.”
Skivington Directs Exiles Energy Towards Aviva Premiership
Skivington was asked whether this was a competition Irish could do without. He said, ”we haven’t got the biggest squad in the world and it’s been a tough year, so obviously our energy is directed towards the Aviva Premiership.
“It’s a great opportunity all the same. Some guys thought they wouldn’t be playing rugby with us this year, and would just be holding bags. They get to play at the Kingsholm, against some former All Blacks and Lions, guys which they saw on TV and look up to.”
While positives can be drawn, the focus on next Friday is evident as Gloucester remain fit and ready to accept the next challenge.
Gloucester remain fit ahead of vital Saracens test
The Cherry and Whites face the European champions next Friday evening. They will hope that the gamble to play a strong team in Anglo Welsh Cup ‘pays off’ in the long term.
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