'Gloucester deserves a top rugby team playing at the top of the league'

After two bonus point wins from two, Gloucester are sitting pretty at the top of the Gallagher PREM table, ahead of West Country rivals Bristol and Bath on points difference.

It may be early days, but the turnaround at Kingsholm is quickly becoming one of the early storylines of the season.

Winless after their first two games last season, and sat eighth in the table, Gloucester have flipped the script this term and breezed past Exeter 45-24 and Harlequins 48-0.

It is the first time since the start of the 2007/08 season, the year they finished the regular season in first place but lost in the semi-finals of the playoffs to an Andy Goode drop goal, that the Cherry & Whites have looked down on the rest of the PREM two matches in.

As a player in side stacked with local talent that also fell at the final hurdle the year before, Gloucester-born Lamb knows only too well how hope can ultimately end up in disappointment.

“It’s great to see them get off to a really good start,” the former fly-half told RugbyPass.

“I know it is a tough place to play if it is not going too well.

“Over the past couple of seasons they’d have taken a lot of stick but you can see as a coaching group they have stuck together and they have put a really good squad together.

“Jac (Morgan) and Dewi (Lake) coming in have made a massive impact.

“I know Jac from Scarlets. It was almost his first year of professional rugby when I was down there, and you could see then, in that six months, that he was a special player.

“So to get those two guys is a big catch for them and obviously the culture and the mentally has changed.

“But I am sure George (Skivington) and the rest of the coaches will be saying is that it is only two games so don’t get too ahead of yourselves.”

Gallagher Premiership

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Gloucester

2

2

0

0

10

2

Bristol

2

2

0

0

10

3

Bath

2

2

0

0

10

4

Northampton

2

1

1

0

6

5

Leicester

2

1

1

0

6

6

Saracens

2

1

1

0

6

7

Sale

2

1

1

0

4

8

Exeter Chiefs

2

0

2

0

3

9

Newcastle

2

0

2

0

2

10

Harlequins

2

0

2

0

0

Skivington is being supported by Chris Boyd, who laid the foundations for Northampton current successful run.

“He is very experienced and I think he is big on culture, being a Kiwi. You sort that out first by getting good people in the building and you can see he’s had a big impact, and long may it continue because Gloucester deserves a top rugby team playing at the top of the league,” added Lamb.

“They’re getting that balance now (between forwards and backs) and Will Joseph has started the season on fire. That’s what you want, you want these young guys that you’ve been developing, putting in some good performances for the first team.

“You could see Charlie Atkinson was a really good player when he was at Wasps and I think maybe giving him the reins at 10, saying you’re our number one has given him a new lease of life. You can see that, he really wants to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

“And bringing someone like Dan Robson has had an effect; he has a strong affiliation to the club and he was part of a quite successul side and is used to winning and playing at a higher level.”

Now 40, Lamb is well settled on the Devon coast and has enjoyed a fine start to the season himself as head coach of National 1 pacesetters Plymouth Albion.

Albion, who would add so much to the Champ if they won promotion, are one of two clubs, along with Tonbridge Juddians, who have an unblemished record after five rounds, with 25 points from a possible 25.

The fifth win was the best yet, a 16-try, 102-0 win at home to Cambridge, who were one of two sides to come down from the Champ last season.

“The boys went well, they are looking strong,” said Lamb.

“On paper, our first six games – we’ve got Sale away this week – looked really, really tough. So to get five from five and maximum points in every single one and not giving up a bonus point for four tries to the opposition is a brilliant start for us.”

But just as Skivington’s mantra is that a good start is all that it is, a good start, Lamb is keeping his feet firmly on the floor.

“We are very pleased but we are very aware it’s a long season, there’s a lot more rugby to be played, so we are not getting above our station.

“If you look at the points table, it is still relatively tight. It is a real strange league that throws up a lot of surprises, so we have got to stay on it.”