Head coach Bryan Redpath told The Rugby Club how passion can revive Gloucester's fortunes.
Team must play for the jersey, insists Redpath
Bryan Redpath told
The Rugby Club that with plenty of heart and endeavour, Gloucester can rise to the Premiership's upper reaches.
After a summer clear out, the Cherry and Whites have won only two league games so far this season but new head coach Redpath is determined to stamp out the errors that are costing his team dear.
Gloucester were put to the sword by Takudzwa Ngwenya, whose a hat-trick spurred Biarritz to a crushing 42-15 Heineken Cup victory, and former Scotland scrum-half Redpath insists such displays are simply not good enough.
"The different challenges that come from owners and chairmen is a new one for me. Some days it's difficult but I've got to be positive," he said.
"I've got to take some of the criticism on the chin; you've got to accept it and you've got to think 'right - how do I deal with it, how do I get through it, how do I make sure that we all understand it without making them feel the pressure that I should be feeling'.
"The mistakes that are happening at the moment need to be resolved and I need to make sure that we start resolving some of them.
"At the moment it's difficult. We have a lot of players out, senior players as well and that's sometimes who you revert back to, to resolve some of these issues.
"But as I go back to execution issues - I can't resolve that in a game. If someone gives a bad pass, it's a bad pass."
Rebuilding
Expectations remain high at Gloucester even though the club has won only two trophies in a quarter of a century.
A rebuilding process is well underway after 16 players - eight of them internationals - left at the end of last season.
Eight replacements have been summoned from Gloucester's academy players, while a further four players have been added from the lower divisions.
The side's momentum has been further interrupted by injuries and suspensions but nevertheless Redpath remains upbeat.
"I have to be honest with the owners, which I am, and I'll say if we have every player fit then we'll push every team out there," he insisted.
"But when we lose some of the core values with your international players, or your core group of players, you can't expect some of these young kids to turn up and front as often as someone who is battled-hardened. It just doesn't stack up."
Former skipper Jake Boer has returned to the ranks on a short-term basis to help ease the strain on the squad and Redpath is convinced the South African will set the standard for the rest of his team to follow.
"He actually knows what Gloucester is," he said. "You bring in a ready-made player who has the club at heart; he has the passion in there already.
"It was never about how fit he was or quick he was going to pick up the game again. That was irrelevant. He's not going to be judged on that. He's someone I'm going to use to make sure everyone understands what it does mean to come back and play and show that he's done that for the jersey, for Gloucester, not just Jake Boer."
