Rapava-Ruskin adds to Gloucester’s injury problems
GEORGE Skivington has been dealt a major early season blow as he looks to right the wrongs of the past few seasons at Kingsholm.
Prop Val Rapava-Ruskin, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, pulled out on the eve of last weekend’s 35-26 defeat to Saracens with an injury to his other knee which has left Skivington wondering if he can ever catch a break.
England hopeful Rapava Ruskin, who had been a key piece in the Gloucester pack prior to his knee troubles, is joined on the sidelines by fellow prop Jamal Ford-Robinson (throat infection) and hooker George McGuigan (hamstring).
Tyro hooker Seb Blake, 22, scored an excellent try last weekend, while recent England U20s World Cup winner Afolabi Fasogbon also impressed, but Skivington’s options are thin.
He said: “I’m not going to lie it’s gutting. I’m driving on the way to the stadium when I got that call about Val. He’s a big part of what we do here, we’ve invested a lot in him, so it’s very frustrating and tough to deal with.
“The medics aren’t 100 per cent sure the cause of the issue but we have to get to the bottom of this because we can’t have a repeat of last season. I have key players I base things around and when you approach a game and players pull out it really hurts you more than if it was someone else.
“George has reinjured the same injury he sustained in the Challenge Cup final after six months of rehab, so we won’t see him for a while either.”
Skivington has been impressed with his younger guys such as Archie McArthur and Fasogbon, right.
“We’ve got a couple guys coming through that can play both sides. Archie is an up-and-coming player that played for Hartpury last weekend in the Championship, he’s going to be a great player and potentially opportunities will come for him.
“The biggest compliment I can give Afo at the minute is that he isn’t doing much wrong. I had high hopes for him but he’s impressed me more than I thought with not just his performances on the pitch but off it as well – he’s the last player to leave training, wanting to see all the coaches after sessions.”
Having finished ninth last term with just five wins, Skivington is operating with a virtually new look backline. Former Wasps winger Christian Wade has returned after a stint in the NFL before joining Racing 92 last season, joined by Wales half-backs Tomos Williams and Gareth Anscombe.
Anscombe endured a nightmare start last Saturday throwing an interception for Ivan van Zyl’s first half try but shrugged that off and grew into the contest.
While other teams can afford to have patience with new recruits, Skivington has not got the luxury of time for players to bed in.
He added: “Gareth is world class. He effectively had a year out of rugby getting himself right. He is a brilliant professional and the Premiership is a new competition for him. He’s excited for the week to week intenseness of the league. He shrugged his interception off quickly and stuck to the plan.
“Our 9-10 experience was behind other Premiership clubs and once we get that connection between Gareth and Tomos in place, as well as the players outside them, it’ll put us in good stead.
“The challenge is we need things to come together sooner rather than later in this seven-game block. We’re challenging our backline harder than ever before and need them to work twice as hard off the ball. Building synergy is the challenge but I am confident we’ll get there.”
