The Gloucester verdict as Charlie Atkinson heads back to Leicester

George Skivington is expecting good things from Charlie Atkinson on the Gloucester No10’s first appearance versus Leicester since quitting Mattioli Woods Welford Road last December. The former England U20 title winner joined Tigers during the winter of 2022 after Wasps went bust, but he was mainly confined to cameos from the bench and happily switched to the Kingsholm club last Christmas Eve.

Having subbed in 14 of his 21 games for Leicester, he was immediately in the thick of it at Gloucester only for red tape to then stunt his progress. A stipulation of his move was that he couldn’t play against Tigers, so he was sidelined for the Premiership Cup final and the following weekend’s trip to Leicester in March.

With the Cherry and Whites winning both games, Atkinson struggled to get back in the team but he will now belatedly get to face Leicester this Sunday as Skivington has pencilled him as his starting No10 after four previous rounds covering Gareth Anscombe from the bench.

The veteran Wales player picked up a concussion after 20 minutes of last weekend’s home loss to Bath and with Atkinson replacing him, he will now start against his old club.

Asked by RugbyPass for his verdict on Atkinson’s 10 months with Gloucester, Skivington said: “Charlie had a really tough period in rugby. He was in a great spot playing 10 for Wasps and then he ended up going to Leicester and ended up in a roadblock there. We brought him over here and he has been brilliant.

“He probably needed a place to come and be loved and enjoy himself. He had a few good games for us last year. He wasn’t allowed to play against Leicester. He had got in good form and then we had two games against Leicester, so he stepped out and the boys played well and he was sort of in and out for the rest of the season.

“But he has been brilliant. He has really focused on his strength and conditioning over the off-season and is in great shape. He is very suited to the way we want to play and I’m sure he is looking forward to going to Welford Road.

“For us, Charlie was a real coup. He has got massive scope – he will be a great player and particularly with this game plan. He is one of the best 10s at taking the ball to the line and choosing an option.”