George Skivington: Gloucester will not abandon new style despite third loss

Gloucester will not abandon their new expansive style of play, says director of rugby George Skivington – despite their third loss in four games this Premiership season.

The Cherry and Whites scored three stylish tries but conceded eight – including six in the second half – to lose 55-31 to Bath at a sold-out Kingsholm on Saturday.

While Gloucester beat Bristol in a high-scoring thriller at Ashton Gate, they have also lost to Saracens and Sale after finishing ninth last season in the table.

“We’re not going to pull away from it, I think we’ll be a bit more respectful of it after this game,” Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

“There’s lots we need to be better at but we are committed to playing this way so we will continue.”

Gloucester implemented the new approach this summer, spearheaded by attack coach James Lightfoot-Brown.

They have scored 128 points so far – averaging 32 points a game across four matches – but have conceded 162, more than any other team in the league.

Tomos Williams and Charlie Atkinson both capped off impressive flowing passages of running play to score tries as Gloucester went in at half-time 24-17 ahead against Bath.

However, Skivington pointed to his attack for being at fault for four of Bath’s second-half tries as they pushed for another score.

Their line-out was also a significant weak spot, with only a 58% success rate while Gloucester also conceded 11 penalties.

“Bath scored at least four tries off us making a wrong decision in attack and being reckless rather than organised,” Skivington said.

“We’ve got to sort our line-out – our maul and scrum was actually very good but if you choke up six line-outs, that’s a lot of possession in key spots.”