Gloucester address rumours of a Ross Byrne return to Irish rugby

Gloucester boss George Skivington has said that former Ireland fly-half Ross Byrne, who has been linked with moves to France, is staying at Kingsholm and will feature in his squad this season.

Byrne, who won a Grand Slam three years ago, spoke to Perpignan in the summer after his first season in the West Country turned into a nightmare, with Charlie Atkinson pushing him out of the first-team picture.

Despite winning five United Rugby Championship crowns during his Leinster career, he struggled to adapt to life in the PREM and hasn’t played since a 16-minute cameo in a PREM Cup win over Sale Sharks in February.

“Ross is still with us. It was a combination of things really, but the biggest thing last year was Charlie upped his game. He got an opportunity, and he’s been playing well for us, but probably not as consistent as we needed from him.

“And then he really took his chance, and Ross happened to be a headline signing, and, you know, Charlie, who we’ve invested a number of years in, comes through, and that’s the way it is, and by that point, we’re out of Europe.

“We needed the last few games of the PREM Cup to get ready for the PREM, and then the PREM was broken up, so the season didn’t allow for rotation for the position we were in, so it was a little bit of a perfect storm.

“But Ross is with us, and he has had a great pre-season, so we’ll see what happens. I think he has to get more game time. The start of last year was tricky for a number of reasons, and he’s in the middle of that, trying to manage.

“We’ve got some kids, people playing who are part-time rugby players, and things like that, which for him, trying to manage the team, is difficult. But we’re starting here in three tournaments at this point. So there will be opportunities to rest and rotate.

“We’ve had some good conversations at the start of the year. No one wants him doing that role (shadow squad in training runs). That’s not what we brought him in for,” he said.