The Cherry and Whites director of rugby dicusses the club's search for additional backroom support
John Evely Sports Writer
09:50, 08 Jan 2026
George Skivington admitted he is at the depths of his toughest time as a coach right now, with some fans calling for his head as his Gloucester side languishes in ninth place in the league, having lost 25-19 to Newcastle Red Bulls on Friday.
Injuries, week after week, mean Skivington has had to scrap all the plans he made when he assembled this squad, much to his frustration.
READ MORE: George Skivington confirms Gloucester Rugby are in the market to fill specialist position
He said: “I think that the toughest piece for me is actually all the plans we made in the pre-season, from week one of the Premiership, we haven't been able to execute anything. We haven't had the same team go out. Every day, I get a knock on the door from the physios. This happens, this happens. The tough part for me is leading a coaching team where we're just talking about what team we're going to be able to field.
“You recruit to try and make some shifts in your game that you felt you were deficient and it's all blown up. It's week-to-week solving problems rather than going after things.”
Gloucester are understood to be in the process of bringing in a new director of rugby figure into the club, with Skivington stepping down to head coach, but that process has been long and drawn out, with at least one candidate pulling out late in the process.
Reports from South Africa suggest the Stormers' director of rugby, John Dobson, who has just signed a new contract with the United Rugby Championship side, was one of the men in the frame for the position.
Skivington admits he has been juggling too many plates, meaning a few have been dropped and broken. He said: “I cover a lot of bases. And I actually enjoy all the bases. My learning in this process is that you think you can do everything, and you take a lot of things on, and in reality, you end up not giving the best version of yourself, probably in all those areas.”
As for Gloucester’s dedicated and famously passionate fanbase, who haven’t had much to cheer this season, Skivington said: “I understand the emotion around sport. And that is everybody's right, by the way. I don't feel any animosity toward anybody who's not my biggest fan right now. I actually get it. I support teams. It's sport.
“I think if you actually step back and look at what we're dealing with, it is tough. But there is nobody wearing this more than I am right now.”
“This is definitely the toughest spell I've dealt with, don't get me wrong, but you do get kicked around a little bit, and you find out how much you enjoy the game. There's not a lot of joy in it right now for us, and I appreciate what the supporters think, but it will get better.”
While Skivington made it clear his focus is on Edinburgh Rugby coming up on Friday in the Champions Cup, he briefly cast his eye to the future.
He said: “We've signed some world-class players [in Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake]. We've got a couple more massive signings we've made that will come out in the press, which are really positive and of that level. And our young lads will be better for this. But I'm not looking too far ahead right now.”