Gloucester have fallen to defeat to the Sharks, the Saints and Bath in their opening three games, but George Skivington believes this is where his side can ‘push on’ against Bristol Bears.
Despite being winless so far this season, Gloucester Rugby’s head coach George Skivington believes his team will “get better with the group we’ve got and then the cavalry will come back and we can push on”.
The reinforcements he’s talking about refer to his extensive injury list, which includes captain Tomos Williams and vice-captain Seb Atkinson, who is now also a doubt for England’s Autumn internationals after making his debut against Argentina in the summer.
Out for the Bears, however, is former-Gloucester man Louis Rees-Zammit, who has recently returned to rugby union and signed for Bristol following an unsuccessful stint in the NFL, where he was uncapped for both the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The 24-year-old picked up a foot injury in a defeat to the Saracens two weeks ago and is yet to return.
REES LIGHTNING RETURNS!⚡️
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) September 28, 2025
Louis Rees-Zammit shows electric pace from his own half to seal the victory for Bristol Bears!#BRIvLEI | #PREMRugby pic.twitter.com/40wuZ089Cy
Speaking to Gloucestershire Live, Skivington added, “We’re probably five or six points short of where I’d like us to be right now, being realistic. It’s not an ideal start. It’s a bit gutting from all the prep we’ve put in, but we’re just getting tested early on and we’ve ridden plenty of storms like this”.
Arguably the biggest piece of news coming out of Bristol this week has been the return of former-player and American international Toby Fricker on a short-term deal to help manage their injury crisis.
This will be Fricker’s third spell with the Bears, playing for them originally between 2019 and 2023 before returning on loan from the New England Free Jacks last year into the early stages of this 2025.
Since leaving, he’s returned to the States with a loan spell at Anthem Rugby Carolina. Bears director of rugby, Pat Lam, offered insight into how the return came about.
“I managed to find Toby Fricker on a stag do last week, so he rocked into training. He’s obviously been preparing and training because he’s been away with USA Rugby, and he’s managed to join us on Monday.”
Gloucester line-up: Knight, Blake, Fasogbon, Thomas, Alemanno, Basham, Ventur (C), Bokenham, Englefield, Byrne, Thorley, Llewellyn, Joseph, Loader, Atkinson.
Bristol line-up: Woolmore, Oghere, Kloska, Rubiolo, Batley, Luatua, Harding (C), Mata, Marmion, Worsley, Ravouvou, Janse van Rensburg, Moroni, Pepper, Elizalde.
