REACTION: A young Exiles team will take some good lessons from Kingsholm

London Irish forwards coach, George Skivington says that there were plenty of positives to take for a young Exiles team from Saturday.

“From the pack point of view, we had two lads in there straight out of school, one on the wing and one at 9 who’s one year of being a pro,” said Skivington.

“We bled quite a few lads in that game against a strong Gloucester side and I thought for the most part of the game they got stuck in. Their heads never went down.

“They were outmuscled a bit at the scrum and there were a couple of bits and pieces you’d expect but to be honest with you I’m really positive.

“Young Jack Cooke and Josh Basham who did the full stint really got stuck in. They’re very early in their journeys as rugby players and played a Premiership team.

“They’ll take some good lessons. Now they know the physicality level that they’ve got to get to and how hard they’ve got to work.

“It’s a great opportunity. Some of those guys thought that they wouldn’t play rugby for us this year and they get to play at Kingsholm against some All Blacks and British and Irish Lions, guys they’ve watched on TV and look up to and they get to feel where they are in the pecking order of rugby.

London Irish return to Aviva Premiership action against Bath at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday (kick-off 3pm) and the former London Irish captain is looking forward to the game.

“Every week’s exciting for us. We’ve got Bath then Wasps then we’re back here at Gloucester,” added Skivington.

“We know the Bath coaches pretty well. We’ve had a couple of training sessions with them and it’s obviously a challenge but we go into every week feeling really positive.”

In support of London Irish first team player, Darren Dawidiuk, who’s receiving treatment for testicular cancer, the club will be making a donation of £4 per adult ticket and £2 per 65 and over ticket bought for the Bath game at the Madejski Stadium on 19 November from 7 November onwards to the Movember Foundation. Tickets start from £23 for adults and £3 for under 13s. Tickets are available from www.lidirect.co.uk or by calling 0118 968 1016 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to noon).