Gloucester CEO reveals findings of 'deep dive' 10th-place review
Gloucester CEO Lance Bradley has written an open letter to supporters after the club’s frustrating 10th-place finish in the Gallagher Premiership. The Kingsholm side appeared to be end-of-season play-off candidates when placed third midway through the campaign, but they lost their last six matches on the bounce and eight of the nine games played in 2023.
The administrator insisted he didn’t want to be seen making excuses for their last-but-one finish, but he wanted Gloucester fans to know the true extent of the toll that a heavy injury rate took on George Skivington’s squad and its potential to deliver results.
“There is no doubt that finishing 10th in the Gallagher Premiership was disappointing, especially when we had been third only a couple of months before the end of the season,” began Bradley. “We have tried not to use injuries as an excuse, but it is worth explaining just how big an impact injuries have had, especially in the second half of the season.
“To put our injuries in context, we would normally expect to have two or three players require an operation during a season. This season we had 14 players undergo operations – and eight of those were players who would be considered first-choice starters.
“At times we had up to half of our salary cap spend unavailable through injury. And it isn’t just a case of having so many injuries; it’s the positions in which those injuries occurred.
“In the front row, for example, a team can cope with one of its first-choice players being absent, and this is a fairly normal situation for most teams. When you are unable to start with any of your first-choice front rowers, then things inevitably become much more difficult. And it also means that when you bring on the replacements from the bench, things can get even more challenging.
“Before our Christmas games, we had two or three of our first-choice front row starting every game, and we averaged 3.1 points per game. Afterwards, we had zero or one starting in seven out of eight games, and we averaged 1.4 points per game.
“That’s not to say anything about the players who have stepped in – everyone has worked hard and given their all. It’s just a fact of life that if you are unable to use your first-choice players, especially when they are all in the same group (eg: front row), and for an extended period of time, the job becomes much more difficult.
“We have done a deep dive into what we believe the reason for so many injuries might be. Of course, we have looked at the impact of our 3G pitch, as well as training routines and loads, nutrition etc. There is no evidence at all that the pitch has been a factor. In fact, our soft tissue injuries have dramatically decreased since the installation of our pitch and the switch of the training centre to Kingsholm.
“There is no pattern to the injuries, and we have come to the conclusion that we have just had an astonishingly bad run of luck. We are not saying that finishing 10th was entirely down to injuries, but they certainly played a huge part.
“If there is a positive to come out of this, it’s that it is exceptionally unlikely that we will have the same level of injuries next season. If we had been able to maintain 3.1 points per game, we would have finished third.
“Another area that played a part in our disappointing final position was our attack. The stats from the season show that only Newcastle scored fewer points and tries than we did. The appointment of James Lightfoot-Brown as our new attack coach will bring a good deal of additional experience and resources to our coaching team.
“James has come from London Irish, where he not only worked with their academy but was also their attack coach. In fact, he was so highly regarded during the eight years he coached there that he stood in as interim head coach when Les Kiss was away for a few weeks. We will be announcing the addition of further resource to our coaching team shortly.
“Despite the disappointment of finishing 10th, there were some good points to come out of the season. Our defence was good, with only three teams conceding fewer points than us. Discipline, too, was good; we conceded fewer penalties than any other team.
“And with so many injuries it gave a number of players coming through our academy game time they wouldn’t have expected quite so early, and several of them have grabbed that opportunity with both hands.
“I must also mention that our total attendance was the fourth highest in the Premiership, behind only Leicester, Bristol and Harlequins (who played two home games at Twickenham). We sold out four games, and our attendance increased versus the same fixture in 21/22 in nine out of ten games. Thank you for your incredible support.
“All of this leads us to believe that we are still on the right track for success, and we are already looking forward to next season.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Brayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
27 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to comments