The Gloucester Rugby head coach, George Skivington admits he was left “scratching his head” just five minutes into the game after his side lost 38-19 to Harlequins at the Allianz Stadium.
“I don’t think we showed up today if I’m honest.
A disappointing evening in the capital.
— Gloucester Rugby 🍒 (@gloucesterrugby) May 10, 2025
🃏 38 – 19 🍒 | #HARvGLO pic.twitter.com/Zbd5SsKLg8
“I think Harlequins are a team that start games well and I think whoever got a foothold in the game were going to win and we definitely didn’t do that. We struggled for answers, and I haven’t got a good part of our game today to be honest with you.”
Gloucester came into the game after thrashing Exeter 79-17 and some would presume confidence would be amongst the squad: “I can’t say I ever feel comfortable; we talked a lot about that being an anomaly I think we were very good that day, but I think Exeter were very poor. We didn’t pop any bottles of champagne saying we’ve mastered it here by any means.
“If anything, it was that we know Harlequins are very good at Twickenham, we know their back row will be great at the jackal, we know Marcus Smith is going to be on a high, and all those things came to life.
“We got beaten at the breakdown; we got beaten in every aspect of the game really. Maybe it would’ve been better to come in off the back of a tough game, but we all had a week off last week, it should be considered as old news against Exeter, but I think everyone is massively disappointed today.”
Skivington looked back on the season and reflected on any bumps they’ve faced, “I think consistency is lacking this season, I think there’s a couple of teams who have been consistent and are rightly at the top of the table.
“I think a lot of teams, especially us, have been unbelievable and then poor. I’m not sure why the inconsistency is there but it does seem to be present across the league. The league has been so competitive this year and we don’t know who is going to win.
“From a Gloucester point of view, we just didn’t get a foothold of that today, it ran away with us and that was the disappointing part really. We fired a couple of shots as the game went on but nothing like we should have.”
Gloucester have the ability to finish in the top four of the table, Skivington said “We need to win them; I’ll be honest right now we need to win them for pride.
“I’m just gutted, and I’m embarrassed by that performance today, I just feel that we’ve blown a massive opportunity and for me, Friday night is about showing what we are about regardless of the league position.”
