Analysing Gloucester's Recruitment

All change in pursuit of a league play-off spot.

Gloucester went from 9th place, but with victory in the Premiership Cup, to 5th place with no silverware. That probably doesn’t count as progress though they did close the points gap from 24pts off the play-offs to two points. If growth was coming, it’s now been thrown up in the air with 15 players leaving at the end of the season, three went during it, and 15 new faces coming in. That exodus includes some gutting losses to rivals Bath and players going across the Channel. A year ago, fans of the cherry and whites saw something very similar happen and the result was an uptick in league fortunes. Can the same thing happen this time around?

This will not make good reading for Gloucester fans. These numbers represent just the figures from the the Premiership and Europe and Gloucester will be losing five starters and two key back-ups. That kind of upheaval requires a lot of management. Partly that’s because of the quality of players leaving, but partly that’s because so much of their game plan has been built around these guys. Since 2021, the top five players by Premiership game time at Gloucester have been; Lewis Ludlow, Freddie Clarke, Ruan Ackermann, Chris Harris, and Santiago Carreras. Four of those five are off and Ludlow is being replaced as captain. Ideally, you’d want to avoid this kind of cliff edge.

So who’s coming in?

Nepo Laulala (Tighthead Prop - 33)

Let’s not beat around the bush, Laulala is a serious player. He’s also someone Gloucester need to help re-establish their leadership group. Players with his experience command respect and his impact will be felt at the club even after he has left. He joins a tighthead group which is; Afolabi Fasogbon (20), Kirill Gotovtsev (37), and Ciaran Knight (27). Fasogbon won the starting battle last year and looks like he will be a star in the future but he will learn a lot from Laulala’s presence. Gloucester will hope they can squeeze more years out of the All Black (now-Samoan representing). He hasn’t played since February 2024 and has been out with an achilles injury. That coupled with his age means this is a gamble.

Jack Innard (Hooker - 30)

Innard has already made himself a fan favourite by scoring in his first Gloucester game against old team Exeter Chiefs. He’s a very good player who has started infrequently but has been ever present. He will help solidify a hooker group which has impressed with Jack Singleton the incumbent and young Seb Blake (23) the emerging star.

Hugh Bokenham (Lock/Number Eight - 23)

I’m a big fan of this signing. Bokenham has impressed for Cornish Pirates for the last two seasons and obviously impressed Gloucester when he faced them last year in the Premiership Rugby Cup. He is part one of a number of pieces that have been brought in to replace the denuded backrow. He can also play in the second-row to provide support for a very very young group.

James Venter (Flanker - 29)

Venter is piece number two. He is a hard tackling blindside flanker who chops down anything nearby. He doesn’t have the ball carrying ability of Mercer or Ackermann (very few do) but he will bring a different dimension to this restocking process. Last season, the two flanker spots were almost exclusively filled by Ludlow and Jack Clement. Both are still around but Clement has dabbled at number eight in the past and made his first appearance this season there so that might be a sign of things to come.

Josh Basham (Backrow - 26)

Basham has been in Japan for the last few years after London Irish folded. I would expect to seem him used first off the bench but expect to see him brought in for more starting roles as the season progresses. He is incredibly tall and strong and will also be a weapon at the lineout. There aren’t stars in the players acquired for the backrow but it’s a selection of good players who will have opportunities.

Jack Mann (Backrow - 25)

Mann arrives off the back of a very good season with the Warriors. He’s a strong number eight and played for the U20s six years ago. Since then though he’s had limited opportunities until last year. Then he started 11 games, played in 14 in total, and was a key operator for the Warriors. He will look to provide more competition.

Will Trenholm (Backrow - 23)

Trenholm is the last of the backrow by committee signings. Trenholm is another good smart signing. He had a very good full season with London Scottish last year but also was trusted to feature for Quins in the Premiership Rugby Cup. If you’ve read a few of these, you’ll know how highly I rate young players who have played a lot of rugby and Trenholm has 61 games in four years.

Before we move on to the backs, let’s look at the overall approach Gloucester have had to rebuilding their backrow. Last year, there were 54 Premiership games started by the backrow (3 (for each position) x 18 (each match)). 44 of those 54 games were started by Ludlow, Clement, and Ackermann. If you look at the last two years, there have been 108 games started in the backrow and Ludlow, Clement, and Ackermann account for 77 of those. The next highest is Mercer with 18 and Tuisue with 6. So what are Gloucester trying to replace? With Ludlow and Clement still there, they are basically replacing a number eight and providing some backrow depth with Mercer and Tuisue also off. You might think that they would be better doing that by signing one big name number eight as a direct replacement for Ackermann. But they haven’t done that, instead they’ve signed five relatively affordable backrows to add to existing mix.

I think there are two reasons for this. The first is that injuries happen. Mercer was on a lot of money for the last two seasons with Gloucester and played 29 games. He missed two months in year one and in year two he missed everything post November. I will just say, I think criticising players for being injured is absolutely ridiculous even if it happens a lot. This isn’t to criticise Mercer but it is to show that anyone and everyone will get injured at any point and well paid players are just as likely, if not more so, to get injured. Given that, how often do you get your money back if you spend on a big name? In the case of Gloucester, do they have the budget to sign big names who might not play? I would argue no to both. Instead, it’s much better to spread the risk and sign a number of good players who, between them, will always be available.

Secondly, there’s a much bigger article in this, but I think there is a reason to believe that clubs should back their ability to develop talent over their ability to recruit it. One of the biggest names who suggests this is true recently is Dan Lancaster. Nobody would’ve recruited him for a Premiership side two years ago but he was taken to Racing 92, given opportunities, and it turns out he’s really good. Which begs the question of whether that talent was always there but was missed or whether he was just given more opportunities in Paris. Whichever is true, what it suggests is that the pool of talent you could pick from and get a serviceable to very good player is much vaster than we might think. Might it be true that signing five lower level players gives you a better chance of getting one season of Mercer like performance than signing one Mercer? (Insert other player names here where necessary).

Mike Austin (Scrum-Half - 24)

Brilliant signing. Austin has been brilliant for both Cinderford and Hartpury. Last year he played 26 times for Hartpury and scored 13 tries. He was so good that he was involved with Gloucester for two matches at the Premiership Rugby Cup. Ticks all my boxes as someone young backed by huge experience. I really hope he gets the opportunities and delivers like he can this year.

Ross Byrne (Fly-Half - 30)

Byrne has the job of replacing both Gareth Anscombe and Santiago Carreras. That is not an easy job. Byrne is a firm and steady hand on the tiller who would have had many more international caps if he was from almost any other country. He still has 23 by the way. It’s probably off the mark to read into the very first game of the season but Byrne started that and young fly-half Charlie Atkinson played at fullback. I’d expect to see George Skivington trying to get both of them on the pitch in the same way that Anscombe and Carreras combined. Overall though, Byrne is the biggest name signing but he should go very well here.

Will Joseph (Centre - 23)

Joseph has scored a try in every season since his debut one for London Irish. Last year he scored four in nine matches, including a game for London Scottish. That season saw him mostly part of the Premiership Rugby Cup team, though he scored one try in two Premiership matches. He has mostly featured at outside centre but can also play on the wing, and made his first start for Gloucester there. The Cherry and Whites need both outside centre and wing support and so Joseph is a perfect fit. He could be a surprise if he can get some early season performances in the bank.

Ben Loader (Back Three - 26)

Loader is another good hire. He has been with the Stormers since London Irish folded and has scored nine tries in 30 appearances. The Stormers use their wingers in quite a structured way so expect to see Loader enjoy the job more with more flexibility. He can fill the role vacated by Carreras and by Wade and could also be the most significant signing once the season is done.

Rob Russell (Winger - 26)

Russell was injured last season and made just two appearances, one in September and one in March. But, the season before that he was on exceptional form making 14 appearances and scoring seven tries. The season before that he scored ten in 13 matches. He is a natural finisher and as long as he brings the form he had pre-injury he will be a massive addition to the Gloucester squad.

Ben Redshaw (Back Three - 20)

You might have noticed that Joseph, Loader, and Russell all come in as utility players who can cover the back three positions and could fill in at centre if required. Redshaw adds to that dynamic and comes off the back of a very good season with Newcastle. That’s a season which ended with England U20s caps and a try against Scotland. He will probably predominantly feature as a fullback and he joins a group that already includes young talents in Josh Hathaway (21) and George Barton (24). Barton is another player who could play at fly-half, and will start there in Gloucester’s second Premiership Rugby Cup match. Redshaw is another player who could really become a star in this Gloucester side.

Conclusion

Let’s start with the negative. Gloucester have lost a lot of talented players all at once and a lot of leaders. Losing everyone in one go is a particularly bad outcome and that was coupled with the understandable desire to keep as many of those starters on the pitch for as long as possible last year. That means that a lot of starters this year are basically starting for the first time. The fact that Gloucester actually had a good season last year in the Premiership meant there wasn’t ever a time to change things up. But, now, that means that they are coming into this season with very many question marks.

In addition to that, they have lost big name players and really the only two players with significant name recognition joining are Laulala and Byrne. I don’t really know any Gloucester fans but I can imagine they would be a little frustrated by this situation and a perceived lack of ambition.

Personally, I think this has been a good off-season fro Gloucester in terms of bringing players in. Obviously they lost big names and are probably net worse but they have done a good job with recruitment. There is an important point within all of this which has to be mentioned. The team that had these leavers present (obviously Anscombe and Wade were only around for a season) never finished higher than 5th in the Premiership and won silverware in the Premiership Rugby Cup last year and came second in the Challenge Cup that same year. That is not a set of results that Gloucester fans will or have put up with.

If you want to improve your results you have to do one of two things; you either keep those guys around and then double down with other big names joining or you try a different approach. The first thing is a bad idea if you don’t have the cash or you’re restricted by the salary cap and you risk throwing good money after bad. Which means, like it or not, the second way is the only thing to do. So with that being said, Gloucester have done the best thing they can possibly do and they’ve done it well. I don’t think they’ll reach the play-offs this season but I think this squad has a better chance of doing it next season than the one last year.

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