Gloucester reveal Ackermann's replacement
NEWS: Gloucester announced the appointment George Skivington as their new head coach.
Skivington was previously forwards coach at London Irish, and has also coached with the Samoan national team. His playing career included captaining England Saxons and London Irish, as well as time with Wasps and Leicester Tigers.
He takes over the position left by Johan Ackermann, who will be coaching in Japan.
๐ฃ “๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ-๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐…”
George Skivington “can’t wait” to play his part in the Gloucester Rugby vision ๐
Read all the quotes ๐#WelcomeGeorge
โ Gloucester Rugby (@gloucesterrugby) June 27, 2020
“Iโm absolutely delighted to be joining Gloucester,” said Skivington.
“Iโve been very impressed with everyone Iโve met at the club so far, and the vision they have for the club. What I particularly liked was how far-reaching the vision is, building from the Academy, through the first team, and across the whole club. I canโt wait to play my part in it.
“When I was playing, Gloucester was one of a couple of clubs that you never fancied visiting. We want to bring that feeling back to Kingsholm.
“Iโve had a look at the playing squad, and there are some really great players in there. It doesnโt need rebuilding, but there are obviously one or two areas that need some work. When Gloucester has been successful itโs always been built on having a formidable pack. We need make sure we have a pack that has the kind of reputation that it used to have. When we do that, with the skill and pace of the backs we have at the club, weโre going to start getting the results we want again.”
Weโd like to introduce you to our new Head Coachโฆ
Weโre sure youโll join us in giving him a warm #glawsfamily welcome! ๐#WelcomeGeorge pic.twitter.com/NA2pFNfKrw
โ Gloucester Rugby (@gloucesterrugby) June 27, 2020
CEO Lance Bradley commented: “George has a great reputation within the game, and is one of the new generation of highly talented young English coaches. He was our clear first choice among the many who applied for the position. He has signed a long-term contract and we look forward to working with him to deliver the vision we have for our club.”
Gloucester also announced that Alex Brown is promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer. With the decision not to replace the Director of Rugby position, Brown will take on more rugby-related responsibilities including recruitment and regulatory issues, leaving Skivington to concentrate on the playing side.
