‘Outstanding’ Wales call-ups hailed as Gloucester boss looks to benefit from Warren Gatland
Tomos Williams has been in great form for Gloucester.
Gloucester head coach George Skivington heaped praise on his Wales international call-ups after they helped the Cherry and Whites to a 36-7 win over Newcastle.
Five of the club’s players – Tomos Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Max Llewellyn, Josh Hathaway and Freddie Thomas – were called up by their country this past week.
Gloucester were subsequently dubbed the ‘fifth Welsh region’ ahead of their Premiership fixture with the Falcons as they cruised to a simple bonus-point triumph.
Praise for Welshmen
Skivington‘s team scored six tries as Jack Clement, Williams, Seb Blake, Jack Singleton, Christian Wade and Hathaway crossed but they left more points out there.
“I thought our Welshmen were great again,” said the boss, with Williams and Anscombe having been influential in the team’s performances as an attacking outfit.
“I think Freddie Thomas particularly has been outstanding through this block. Max probably had a quieter game than he has in recent games but he was still brilliant at his moments.
“Tomos has been outstanding and, unfortunately, Gareth missed last week (with concussion) but he was in the flow as well.
“I think it’s great they’re all going off to camp. I hope they’ll feel Gatland‘s intensity for a couple of games and then come back and bring a few bits with them. It’s great we’ve got those lads going there. We’d like some more going to England as well, but that will come.”
Saturday’s result moved Gloucester up to fifth on the table and when assessing this first block of six Premiership matches, Skivington was a pleased head coach.
“I think it’s a fair return,” he said.
“I think there’s a few games we could have won. I definitely feel we’ve left three points out minimum on this journey. But I’m happy with the way the lads are playing. That’s the main thing.
“I still think we’ve got a long way to go, but I think where we sit in the table at the end of six games is good.”
In stark contrast it was a tough afternoon for Newcastle Falcons as a try for hooker Jamie Blamire was the only bright spot for a disappointed boss, Steve Diamond.
‘Didn’t show up’
“We didn’t show up in the first half. Our basics let us down and against a team like Gloucester, who have shown from day one of the season that they’re gonna run the ball, defensively we were all over the show,” he said.
“When we did get the ball we ran into touch a couple of times and didn’t respect the ball and against a side like Gloucester, the way they’re playing with the half-backs they’ve got who do control play very well, you know you can’t ask for anything other than that result.”
Diamond added on their set-piece struggles at Kingsholm: “We may have a squad that doesn’t cost as much as the others, but that doesn’t excuse us for not being able to do our basic jobs.”
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