By George Davis
Gloucester travel to the StoneX stadium on Saturday as they look to get their Premiership campaign back on track. The Cherry and Whites travel to North London after securing a Challenge Cup semi-final against Benetton, however Head Coach George Skivington is under no illusions on how difficult this weekend’s game will be.
“I don’t know if it’s ever a good time to go to Sarries away, I think we will see the absolute best of Saracens this weekend with their last couple of games.”
Saracens have lost their last two games (Bordeuax and Northampton), conceding almost 90 points in the process. And with the likes of Owen Farrell and the rumoured Vunipola brothers on their way out of the club, they will be looking to finish the trademarked ‘run in’ strongly.
“They’ve had a week off to get ready for this and obviously you have some big names in there who are playing out their last couple of months in a Saracens jersey.
“We are definitely not underestimating all those pieces coming together, we know there is a massive threat this weekend, it’s always a tough place to go and the team we take up there are well aware of that.”
Gloucesters last trip down to North London ended in a 41-39 victory to Saracens, a late Tom Woolstencroft double enough to secure a 16-point comeback.
However, Skivington is determined for his side to not make the same mistakes on Saturday.
“We threw that one away last year, but I give credit to Sarries, they took control of it.
“It’s a massive challenge, they’ve obviously in their last game got the outing they wanted, and they’ve got the narrative of Farrell and some big names moving on.
“It’s going to be huge, and they are going to be the best version of themselves, and we have got to be aware of that, but we will send a team up there and we will tell them to rip into it and go for it.
Saracens away has been a tough trip in the league this season with only Bath and Northampton able to get the better of them on their home turf and the Head Coach knows that.
“It’s up there as one of the toughest places to go in Europe.”
But that doesn’t seem to phase him, Skivington even hinting at a possible switching up of some of the players in the starting 15 and with Max Llewellyn back fit, competition for places is high.
“We’ve been going five/six weeks on the bounce so there are a few lads who need to be looked after who have put in big shifts.”
“And there are a few players in the squad I would like to see in the Premiership before the end of the season to know what they are capable of and what they need to work over in the summer.
“There’s Josh (Hathaway), Jake (Morris), those boys have done a really good job the last few games and there’s some excitement around those boys and again those are the type of lads I would like to see a little bit more of in the Prem.
“They have shown some moments of real quality but also been caught out, and you’ve got to get caught out.
“There’s quite a lot in the air, if you like, to pull a selection together to make sure I can tick the right boxes of what we can achieve for the rest of the season and what I know for the start of next season.
“The one thing we can’t do is win the Premiership or anything, that’s not to be dressed up but there is a lot still to play for and the boys and coaching staff know that.”