Atkinson: Dom Waldouck is obsessive when it comes to defence strategies

Gloucester midfielder Mark Atkinson has explained why brother-in-law Dom Waldouck's slavish devotion to detail will banish any doubts over his coaching credentials.

At 32, former Wasps, Northampton and Newcastle centre Waldouck became one of the Premiership's youngest ever coaches when he joined forces with George Skivington and Alex King over the summer – a seismic revolution still in its formative stages amid mixed results.

Atkinson has no doubts about Waldouck's potential, however. “I had a year playing with Dom at Wasps and know him well because I'm actually married to his sister, Lydia,” Atkinson said.

“You can't expect him to have all the answers, but one thing he's done particularly brilliantly so far is being thoroughly prepared – coaching is to the point of an obsession with him.

“His presentations to the squad are very well thought out, there's a theme to every week and these are the things that count. I know he spent the majority of lockdown on ten-hour zoom calls every day, just learning about people and sharing experiences with coaches.

“Nobody can expect a young coach to know everything but if they're well prepared and have got sound reasoning behind what they do, which is what we've seen, that's all you can ask.

“Dom's been really good and along with George and Alex, everything's just clicked within the squad. Not many people here knew them but there's now great excitement and a big expectation around the place, which is what a club like Gloucester wants to feel.”

Successive losses to Exeter, Harlequins and Bath have put a significant dent in Gloucester's outlook in the Champions Cup, knowing they are now likely to qualify as a ‘Tier 4' club under the revised format for 2020-21.

Atkinson said: “Losing to Quins put a huge dent in our target because seeing how the seedings will work in next season's Champions Cup, you'd rather be in the top six and playing against third or fourth placed teams than big top-two sides from around Europe.

“We want to qualify as high as possible, but we also want to finish this season with a bit of pride and put building blocks in place for next season. We'll only get six weeks between seasons so it's not like you can park a season and come back, it's pretty continuous.”

NEALE HARVEY