Gloucester brace for ‘massive challenge’ against Sharks’ ‘superstars’ in the final

Sharks-Lukhanyo-Am-celebrates-and-gloucester-boss-george-skivington

Gloucester boss George Skivington is bracing for “a massive challenge” when the Cherry and Whites face off against the Sharks in this season’s EPCR Challenge Cup final.

Skivington’s charges defeated Benetton 40-23 in the semi-final, booking their place in the final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 24.

Skivington expected the Sharks to win

It is the fourth time that Gloucester have reached the tournament’s final after clinching the title in 2006 and 2015 but fell to Cardiff six years ago.

“I expected them to win today,” Skivington said of the Sharks, who defeated Clermont Auvergne 32-31 at Twickenham Stoop.

“They have got a lot of superstars and play a really tough brand of rugby. It is a massive challenge, there are a lot of big players in that team.

“It’s huge for the club. We want to go to finals, win trophies and be in knockout stages of competitions.

“We have put ourselves in a position to have a shot at another one, but we have got a fierce opposition and we are going to have to be very ready for it.”

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Scotland international Adam Hastings played a pivotal role in Gloucester’s victory scoring 17 points, including a try, three conversions and two penalties.

The fly-half is set to rejoin Glasgow Warriors ahead of next season and Skivington spoke highly of the 27-year-old’s performance in the semi-final.

“Adam was brilliant. He is moving on next season, but he has been great for us and will do whatever it takes for the team,” Skivington added.

“We gave him a really strong game-plan this week, and he led that really well.”

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Benetton and Gloucester’s season

The Cherry and Whites are out of the running for a place in the Premiership play-offs after a poor start to the season and the Gloucester boss says that he will be using their last two games to prepare for the Challenge Cup final.

“There is a balance of having to play some rugby and be rested as well,” he said.

“We are still going to try and win them (Premiership games), but ultimately I will use the Premiership to make sure we are best prepared for the final, and give some young players opportunities.

“It doesn’t mean we won’t be ripping into the two remaining Premiership games.”

Meanwhile, Benetton will be looking to seal a place in the United Rugby Championship play-offs after making a second successive Challenge Cup semi-final exit.

“We had plenty of opportunities, but execution let us down,” Benetton head coach Marco Bortolami told TNT Sports.

“We had two or three moments when we applied pressure, but dropped the ball. Overall, they (Gloucester) are a very experienced team, and we are still learning.”