Round two of the Gallagher Premiership will see Gloucester Rugby welcome Wasps to Kingsholm.
The cherry and whites started their campaign off with a very poor performance away from home at Welford Road, where the Leicester Tigers ran out 38-15 winners.
Meanwhile Wasps had late drama at the Ricoh Arena as they managed to score a late team try, Tom Willis being the beneficiary, to edge out a narrow 23-20 win over Bristol Bears.
Here’s what Gloucester Rugby head of coach George Skivington had to say when reflecting on last weekends result.
“Everyone has been really honest and everyone has been really hurt. We’ve trained hard today and we’ll train hard for the rest of the week. We expect everyone to pick up and crack on but I don’t think that game was a fair reflection of us as a team.”
A Massive blow for the home side comes in the form of captain Lewis Ludlow’s concussion. He is a doubt for the game, but Skivington is still hopeful it’s not too serious of an injury.
“He’s doing really well and he’s going through the protocol. He won’t be cleared to play until the back end of the week so we’ll see how that pans out but he’s ok, he’s a warrior.”
With Gloucester losing their blindside flanker to injury, Wasps have also lost theirs in Jack Willis, who’s been named in the England squad as a finisher to face Wales in the Autumn Nations Cup.
If the history and not form is taken into account, anyone can win this game, with Gloucester currently holding a good record against the men from Coventry. Wasps victory over Gloucester at Ricoh Arena in March ended a four-game losing run to the cherry & whites. Wasps most recent victory at Kingsholm was 30-23 in Gallagher Premiership Rugby in December 2014.
However, form definitely tells a different story. Wasps have lost just once in their last nine Premiership Rugby encounters, which was to Exeter in last season’s final. Lee Blackett’s side have lost only once away from home in any competition in the last eleven months.
Gloucester will need an impressive performance to edge this game, but I can see Wasps winning this one comfortably by 20+ points.
