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George Skivington sheds light on Ross Byrne's attitude behind closed doors
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Gloucester boss George Skivington is keeping mum about Ross Byrne’s potential move to Top 14 outfit Perpignan as the Ireland international looks to be edging closer to the Kingsholm exit door.
Byrne’s high-profile switch from Leinster last summer has turned into a nightmare after struggling to fit into Gloucester’s style of play, and after Charlie Atkinson’s switch to the playmaker role, he hasn’t featured in any squads since February.
And despite helping Ireland to win a Grand Slam three years ago and winning five United Rugby Championship titles, and having two years left to run on his deal that is said to be worth £370k a year, the writing appears to be on the wall with talks for a move well advanced.
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“I honestly cannot say anything. You probably know more than me. As you know, there are always moving parts, aren’t there? There are things that go well, but I can’t really comment on someone’s individual circumstances.
“There’s no secret. Charlie’s (Atkinson) had a stellar season and as I said before, with the way the season works out, you have two PREM games, a break, two PREM, so you don’t really have the need unless you’re in another tournament.
“Game time’s been limited, and he’s obviously frustrated with that. He’s a competitive rugby player, but players’ futures are always in their hands, and they have to make their own decisions,” Skivington told RugbyPass.
Skivington added that despite being as far out of the first-team picture as it’s possible to get, Byrne, 31, has been mucking in and he has no complaints about his training and attitude in preparing the team.
“Ross has been very, very good. He’s trained every day and been positive. He’s run the opposition plays and is a high-profile player, but we’ve got a number of players who end up in these positions where they can’t get into the team, especially at the back end of the season.
“And he’s led the reserves, running the opposition plays, and worked really hard. He’s not let it affect him in terms of the squad mentality, and you’re always sympathetic to guys, especially if they’ve made a big move and it’s not at the moment where he wants it to be.
“Sport ebbs and flows, and it’s an ever-changing piece. In this case, the piece that changed is Charlie Atkinson, who came back from an England tour, and he’s grown and grown as the season’s gone on,” Skivington added.
