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It's official: Rory Teague is the latest casualty at Gloucester
By Online Editors
The upheaval at Gloucester is continuing at a hectic pace, the Gallagher Premiership club confirming on Tuesday that assistant coach Rory Teague is leaving to seek out opportunities elsewhere. The English top-flight club have been unsettled ever since head coach Johan Ackermann decided in May to quit for a move to the Japanese Top 14.
He was followed out the Kingsholm door by David Humphreys, the director of rugby, and a plethora of players, the latest being the confirmation that lock Gerbrandt Grobler has taken up a two-year deal at Stade Francais in the Top 14.
Now comes word that Teague, whom RugbyPass reported on Monday was set to leave, has officially departed the club just days after it emerged that his second cousin, England and Lions legend Mike, demanded the removal of all his memorabilia at Gloucester.
“I have said I want all the memorabilia back, murals, shirts, whatever. Anything to do with my name I want out of the club and gone," said Mike Teague in a Sunday interview with The Rugby Paper two days before Gloucester confirmed that Rory Teague was leaving.
A brief statement read: "Gloucester today announce that Rory Teague is leaving the club. With the appointment of George Skivington as head coach, it has been agreed with Rory that he will seek opportunities elsewhere."
Chief operating officer Alex Brown added: "Rory is a great coach. We would like to recognise the good work he has done here and we wish him all the best for the future."
Teague said: "I would personally like to thank Gloucester for affording me the opportunity to coach at the club that I grew up supporting and have always loved.
"I would like to wish Gloucester and George Skivington the best of luck for the completion of the current season and beyond. I'm confident with the squad Gloucester have, and the passionate supporters behind them, that success over the next few seasons will return to this great club."
Prior to the appointment of the unheralded Skivington, an assistant at London Irish, Teague had been acting as de facto head coach following the exit of Ackermann.
Now, having only extended his contract with the club in January, the ex-Bordeaux head coach has also headed out the exit door. Despite the reported backing of some senior players at the club, Teague was overlooked in favour of Skivington, who beat off competition from 70 other applicants.
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I’ve seen an improvement in both.
Go to commentsFrance using the 7-1, England using the 6-2, Ireland and Scotland have used it a few times as well and many nations are starting to adopt it. The reality is the game is changing. Administrators have made it faster and that is leading to more significant drop offs in the forwards. You have 2 options. Load your bench with forwards or alter your player conditioning which might mean more intense conditioning for forwards and a drop off in bulk. The game can still be played many ways. Every nation needs to adapt in their own way to suit their strengths. France have followed the Springbok model of tight forwards being preferred because it suits them. They have huge hunks of meat and the bench is as good as the starters so why not go for it? The Springboks have also used hybrids like Kwagga Smith, Schalk Britz, Deon Fourie, Franco Mostert and others. England are following that model instead and by putting 3 loosies there who can do damage in defence and make the breakdown a mess in the final quarter. It worked well against Wales but will be interested to see how it goes going forward against better opposition who can threaten their lineout and scrum. All the talk around bench limitations to stop the 7-1 and 6-2 for me is nonsense. Coaches who refuse to innovate want to keep the game the same and make it uniform and sameness is bad for fans. The bench composition adds jeopardy and is a huge debate point for fans who love it. Bench innovations have not made the game worse, they have made it better and more watchable. They challenge coaches and teams and that’s what fans want. What we need now is more coaches to innovate. There is still space for the 5-3 or even a 4-4 if a coach is willing to take it on and play expansive high tempo possession-based rugby with forwards who are lean and mean and backs who are good over the ball. The laws favour that style more than ever before. Ireland are too old to do it now. Every team needs to innovate to best suit their style and players so I hope coaches and pundits stop moaning about forwards and benches and start to find different ways to win.
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