Bristol Bears v Gloucester: Coaches expect ‘helter-skelter’ derby

“If both teams can do what they want to do then there’s likely to be a lot of tries scored and highly entertaining rugby which is what we want, but we want to win. It should make for a good game.”

Skivington said while his side were trying to change their style, running rugby had long been Bristol’s way of playing.

“They’ve had a few changes but their nucleus is very similar and their DNA is to play, they don’t kick the ball a lot,” he said.

“They’re very well organised. Although they can look like they’re playing in chaos, they clearly know where they are supposed to be.

“They’ve been doing a lot of the stuff that we’ve been challenging ourselves to do.”

Gloucester are assessing a knee injury to prop Val Rapava-Ruskin and are without playmaker Santiago Carreras who remains on international duty with Argentina, but have welcomed back Fijian back-rower Albert Tuisue this week.

The Cherry and Whites faithful will be hoping a change in style will bring a big improvement on last season’s disappointing ninth-place finish.

“Every game in the Premiership is vital. It gets away from you very quickly and then you’re chasing your tail,” added Skivington.