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“You lose that many line outs, you hang yourself” Gloucester Rugby head coach George Skivington blames poor line outs for 55-31 loss to Bath

George Skivington’s Gloucester Rugby suffered a brutal 55-31 defeat to Bath Rugby in the Gallagher Premiership this weekend.

This is despite Gloucester being up 24-17 at half time, their west-country rivals Bath were able to produce a stunning comeback and win the game at Kingsholm Stadium on Saturday.

Gloucester head coach Skivington believed that his side had a lot to learn after suffering such a tough defeat to their rivals. He said: “We’re pushing our luck the way we’re playing.

“When it’s good, it’s good. But I think we’ve learned a valuable lesson there, that we got to respect the breakdown, when you offload, when you pass.

“Bath scored four tries off of us making the wrong decision in the tackle and being reckless rather than organised.”

Skivington had lots of praise for his attack on Saturday but was not afraid to admit that the attack probably cost them several tries.

He said: “Our attack looked good, but I think our attack gave at least four tries away today as well.

“We know that’s a risk with the way that we are playing, but I think we can be better on all sides.”

There were some key positives that Gloucester and Skivington could take away from the game, one of those being the bonus point awarded.

He said: “We got a bonus point for the four tries, We made lots of line breaks and we looked good with the ball. I think the lads have worked really hard and they are scoring tries.

“We didn’t get anything out of this fixture last year, we scored four tries against Bath which is great. There are positives but its just tricky right now when you were in a game with just 20 minutes to go and the scoreline looks like that at the end it’s very tough to swallow.”

The Gloucester head coach identified the line out as a key area in which side were second best on the weekend and said: “I don’t know if we have ever lost that many line outs in a game to be honest.

“It misfired today and it’s very hard to win a premiership game of rugby if you lose six line outs, there’s no getting away from that.

“If you choke up six line outs that is a lot of possession lost in key spots, so there’s lots for us that we need to be better at, but we are committed to playing this way so we will continue.”

Despite the repeated mistake in the line out Skivington was committed that his side will continue to play with their style of rugby.

He said: “We’re not going to change the way we’re playing, that’s for sure.

“I think we can be tough around the edges and we’ll try to get other bits and pieces in place. I think our squad makeup suits playing rugby, but today is a tough day.”

Last season was one to forget for Skivington and for the fans with them finishing the 23/24 season in ninth place above only Newcastle.

But Skivington believes that this year is different and admitted that this side could push for the play off places once some teething issues are sorted out.

He said: “I think we could be fighting at the right end of the table. I think for us, it is looking at how long it’s going to take to get it right. And finding that balance of playing attack and playing with flair.

“Did we show enough today to say we could? No, not really. But I do believe in this group and I think our set piece’s are actually in a good spot, our attack in a good spot, our defence we acknowledge we’re not getting there quick enough. But actually, there were some good signs of it today.”

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