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Gloucester add to coaching staff, give first verdict on new signings

Goucester boss George Skivington (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

George Skivington has revealed that he has added Declan Danaher and Billy Twelvetrees to the staff at Gloucester ahead of the new Gallagher Premiership season. The Kingsholm boss also delivered his first verdict on the club’s major new signings, Wales half-backs Gareth Anscombe and Tomos Williams and former Racing winger Christian Wade.

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A former teammate and coaching colleague of Skivington’s at London Irish, Danaher coached the Ireland women’s defence in the Guinness Six Nations earlier this year and he has been working at Gloucester during their pre-season but his involvement isn’t yet permanent.

It was last week when Scott Bemand announced an overhaul of his Ireland staff ahead of the upcoming WXV1 that included the naming of Hugh Hogan as their new defence coach in place of Danaher.

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As regards Twelvetrees, the former Gloucester player who retired from playing at Ealing at the end of the 2023/24 season, he was named last month as the new backs and attack coach at Hartpury but he will now double up as a skills coach at Gloucester, similar to the two-club work that Jonny Goodridge did before leaving for Cardiff.

Addressing the fans who turned up at Kingsholm on bank holiday for an opening training session after six weeks of pre-season were followed by a week off for the squad, Skivington said: “We have got Dec Danaher who is helping us with the breakdown, a very experienced coach in numerous places, most recently with Ireland women.

“He is a breakdown specialist. Brilliant. I think James (Lightfoot Brown) mentioned it earlier when he spoke to you about how important the breakdown is going to be for the way we are going to play this year.

“And obviously Billy Twelvetrees, who you know is now attack coach at Hartpury. It is attack coach with Hartpury but he will have a dual role. We had Jonny Goodridge in that role last year (now at Cardiff). He [Twelvetrees] will come over and assist us with skills and make sure our lads who are looking to play for Hartpury, make sure that transition is as lined up as we can have it so the boys are really aligned with what we do.”

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Although victory in the Premiership Rugby Cup final over Leicester in March ended the Gloucester trophy drought that stretched back to 2015, the Cherry and Whites finished tailed off in ninth place in the Premiership and were also second best in the EPCR Challenge Cup final versus Sharks in London.

Asked what improvements Gloucester would be chasing in 2024/25, Skivington explained: “The biggest thing for us last year was we didn’t feel like we had an identity… we could change each week.

“To break it down very simply we want our defence back which was a tough old defence the last few seasons and last season wasn’t, so we want put pressure in defence and take a few risks there. We want our maul back, our set-piece dominance.

“Both of those we have had before so we know how to coach them, we know how to go after that. The big issue will be our attack where we have got to take some chances and let the boys throw the ball around a little bit. That comes with a few errors but just backing them. They have been brilliant pre-season so far throwing the ball around and that’s the big issue we are making this season.”

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Gloucester begin their new campaign with a home clash versus Saracens on September 21. It was October last year when the Londoners visited Kingsholm and spanked the home side 24-3 in round three of the league, but Skivington is optimistic his squad will be a tougher proposition this term given the calibre of their new additions.

“Something we identified last year is we have got some brilliant half-backs coming through but they are young so Gareth and Tomas are obviously a very experience nine and 10. They have been brilliant. They are not just brilliant as a link between the coaches and the players, but they are also brilliant for the young talent we have coming through.

“Those young guys have been in the deep end the last few seasons and now they have got brains they can pick, people they can follow and watch. So those two have been brilliant to follow and Christian, he brings a lot of energy and is an outstanding professional and a lot of these young wingers are going to really learn some good stuff off him.”

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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