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A
season horriblé is the only fitting and fair way to describe Gloucester Rugby’s
2013/14 Aviva Premiership season, at the start term they were expected to
secure a European spot and be pushing for the playoffs come the end of April,
instead they ended the year with a final round loss to demoted Worcester and a
ninth place finish. There were few in the world of rugby that were wholly
surprised by the subsequent suite of management changes because when it comes
down to it Gloucester Rugby are an ambitious and proud club and their 2013/14
season’s output wasn't acceptable.
During the
offseason Chairman Ryan Walkinshaw and Chief Executive Officer Stephen
Vaughan worked tirelessly to put together the ‘new look’ Gloucester and their
task was a daunting one with only one chance to get it right. After
successfully securing the services of the electric Welsh International James
Hook they then delivered a first class Director of Rugby, David Humphreys and
Coaching Team; Head Coach Laurie Fisher, Defence Coach John Muggleton and Backs
and Attacks Coach Nick Walshe. It is a formidable new set up, Fisher is dynamic
and regarded as Australia’s premier mind on the breakdown and tight-forwards
play, whilst Walshe led England to back to back Junior World Cups and
Muggleton won a World Cup with the Wallabies. Their collective rugby
intelligence and experience is vast and with the new look playing squad they
have a huge amount to work with.
The
Cherry and Whites' new boys have excited us for months; Richard Hibbard, John
Afoa, Greig Laidlaw, Aled Thomas and James Hook are the star names along with
the young talents of Henry Purdy and Callum Braley and the academy graduates
Billy Burns and Elliott Stooke. The first two mighty names are expected to fix
their major glaring weakness from the 2013/14 season, the set piece and with
the entrance of James Hook the name Freddie Burns will become a distance memory
fairly quickly. World Cup winner Afoa and British and Irirsh Lions tour winner
Hibbard boast 67 caps between them for their respective countries however their
experience is far greater than their number of caps. Afoa has stated that his intention is to quickly rectify the ‘bad rap’ that Gloucester’s
forwards have and with Richard Hibbard already avoiding the customary milk
challenge head shaving forfeit you know that his influence will be massive
both on and off the pitch. Turning the spotlight on Hook his impact will
also be prolific, like all the greats he makes rugby look effortless and it is
no wonder that Phil Vickery described his arrival as ‘the final piece of the
jigsaw’.
Let us not forget about their existing crop of players whose collective contribution will be just as important. During the 2013/14 season the only person to make more metres than Rob Cook was Chris Pennell, Jonny May was near the top of the pecking order in terms of the most clean breaks and young Dan Robson and Elliott Stooke both made names for themselves in spite of the difficulties. There are elements that need to be rectified, certainly in terms of tackle completion rate and overall consistency however the current squad's positives shouldn't be overlooked.
It is clear that Gloucester Rugby have recruited well both on and off the field and there is no doubt about the fact that it will be a benefit that they are all starting their Gloucester journey at the same time. Having a point to prove is a powerful thing and whilst their Round 1 fixture at Franklin’s Gardens is probably the toughest draw that they could have been given you know that Fisher and his men will be ready to do battle come Friday 5th September. The aim will be to showcase just how far they have come in an extremely short space of time and then seven days put in a performance that makes the Shed rock as only it can do.
It is clear that Gloucester Rugby have recruited well both on and off the field and there is no doubt about the fact that it will be a benefit that they are all starting their Gloucester journey at the same time. Having a point to prove is a powerful thing and whilst their Round 1 fixture at Franklin’s Gardens is probably the toughest draw that they could have been given you know that Fisher and his men will be ready to do battle come Friday 5th September. The aim will be to showcase just how far they have come in an extremely short space of time and then seven days put in a performance that makes the Shed rock as only it can do.
