Gloucester have to have belief says Skivington

Gloucester have not finished in the Prem top four since 2019, with fifth place in 2021 their highest finish since Skivington took over in 2020.

Last season they lost eight of their first nine Prem games, that effectively ended their 2025-26 campaign before it had begun, and subsequently overhauled their coaching hierarchy during the spring.

Chris Boyd was brought on board as a technical director, with Rob Burgess spearheading recruitment as Skivington's role changed from director of rugby to head coach, allowing him to focus on working with the players.

The playing squad has also been significantly bolstered, notably the arrival of Wales forwards Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake and World Cup-winning South African lock Jean Kleyn.

Skivington said the club was "worlds apart" from where it had been.

"There's no getting away from we're really well set up off the field now," he said.

"Worlds apart from where we have been before and we've got a really good group of lads that we've been growing for a number of years now.

"But bringing in Jac, Dewi, Jean Kleyn, Dan Robson, Joe Joyce is part of that as well. That's really lifted the level of expectation and standards."