Gloucester
Last year: 1st (semi-finals)
Title odds: 7/2
Opening fixture: home v Leicester, Sunday 7th September
It was another disappointing play-off experience for table-topping Gloucester, but can they do it this time, Alex Mead asks Mike Tindall and Dean Ryan…
It’s got to happen this year hasn’t it?
DR: It’s unrealistic to think that it’s that easy to predict. We’ve got to get back into that environment again, which is the play-offs. And hopefully if we are successful in doing that then we’ve got to show that we’ve learned the lessons from previous years. There’s two different environments to a season – there’s a nine-month campaign which has a lot of variables. Then we’ve got to perform in the play-offs at a much higher level than we have done in the past.
Is there one thing you can pinpoint that’s gone wrong?
DR: You’re not going to wake up one morning and think ‘that’s it, it’s going to be alright’ – that’s unrealistic, it doesn’t work like that. The game’s too complex, the development of players is too complex, there’s a number of things we have to do. We have to get more experienced as a group. Some of that comes from bringing personnel in, some of it comes from the players being one year old and learning from things that have gone wrong or right. And some of it comes with it comes with a bit of luck too, you can’t just say right we’ve got it right now, we’re going to go out and win every tournament. There’s an awful lot of good sides out there other than us trying to achieve the same things and it’ll be more difficult this year than ever before.
Do you feel under pressure?
DR: No more than we ever had. To understand Gloucester is to understand the pressure we’re always under to deliver. We have 18,000 jumping up and down every week and that’s what Gloucester is. From day one – and I’ve been here a long time now – it’s all about winning. Sometimes you have to balance that expectation to make it realistic because sometimes it can get unrealistic – they want it tomorrow and no side develops in weeks, it’s not that simple. At the same time, we all know why we are here and it’s not always a comfortable place to be, there’s a lot of expectation from the outside and the inside. That expectation hasn’t got any greater because there would be an injustice to previous years. It hasn’t just been a journey to get to this year.
Is it hard deal with the disappointment?
DR: If only you knew how disappointing it was! Dealing with disappointment is something you learn to deal with, you don’t carry it around with you – if I did I’d be grumpier than I’ve ever been in my life. The few days after that [defeat in the play-offs] were difficult, everybody hurts when you’re expected to win. And last year the expectation probably was higher from ourselves than it had been previous years. It becomes a motivation though, you don’t want to end up in the same position again, but you don’t carry a big bag of pain around with you. It is still there though, and it will be there until you clear it…
How are the new guys settling in?
DR: The two main ones are Olly and Greg. Olly was brought in to operate at a level of experience and competence, to ensure we don’t get caught when Tins isn’t there and we end up very young. We’ve operated in Europe with three or four 19-year-olds at Leinster, we’ve operated in semi-finals with two or three 20-year-olds and sometimes that’s unfair when you’re developing players. With Olly, Tins, Matthew Watkins, Anthony Allen – that group means we’ll always have an element of stability and experience. Greg is in for his playing ability but also to add experience having been in successful environments in semi-finals and finals and having turned games from 12-10 deficits to 13-12 wins.
What do you think of Olly signing, Mike?
MT: He’ll give us a fresh attacking perspective to play off. He’s just starting running in all our team stuff and picking up what we do and hopefully we’ll make him a better player because of the way we play and he’ll bring a lot to us too.
Have you given him advice on returning to the Rec?
MT: I think he’s just pretty happy Grewie’s torn his bicep. The last thing he wants is to go back to the Rec and meet Grewie at the bottom of a ruck. They’re always pretty civil down there to be honest.
DR: He’s won there too so it’ll be a big advantage to us!
Is it hard switching from Bath to Gloucester?
MT: I don’t think it’s that hard anymore, when I moved people were saying it was a hard thing to do but it’s a professional sport now and people move all the time.
Finally, think the new RFU agreement will work for you?
DR: We’ll just have to wait and see, we’ve got an agreement for the first time in 12 years but I don’t think anybody from either side would say they’re entirely happy with it. But we’ve got to work with it and see how it works…
TRANSFERS
In
Greg Somerville (Canterbury), Adam Eustace (Llanelli), Matthew Watkins (Llanelli), Olly Barkley (Bath), Dave Young (Leicester)
Out
Ludovic Mercier (Petrarca), Karl Pryce (Wigan Rugby League), Christian Califano (retired), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh), Patrice Collazo (Metro Racing), James Bailey (TBC), Adam Balding (Newcastle), Jonathan Pendlebury (Leeds), Dan Tuohy (Exeter), Mike Prendergast (Munster), Mark Davies (TBC), Pete Swatkins (Sedgeley Park), Ali James (Ealing), Jeremy Paul (released), Leon Lloyd (retired)
Mike Tindall image by Ros Holder