George Skivington: Time to Turn Things Around

The 2013/14 season was one of mixed emotions for London Irish: a change of owners, a big-name signing and a somewhat underachieving performance in the league; however, club Captain George Skivington, insists this season will be different.

After promising much at the start of last season, with a handful of star names in their line-up, the Exiles faithful were ready for a positive season in the Aviva Premiership but, sadly, this didn’t come true…

Not even the high-profile arrival of James O’Connor, the star signing of last season, could spark life into Irish as they found themselves slumped at tenth in the table come the summer.

After a complete squad re-jig over the off-season, which has included the departure of O’Connor and even more worryingly, home-grown flyer Marland Yarde, Skivington insists that the squad is in the right place to make their way up the table this year.

The Exiles took part in the annual ‘London Double-Header’ this weekend in the opening round of the Premiership and, unfortunately fell short to local rivals Harlequins.

Former winger Yarde lined up for the quartered men, alongside a host of internationals, as Quins edged to a very close-fought 20-15 win.

Although the result wasn’t on their side, coming up just short to such an experienced, prolific team will still give the Exiles a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.

Talking Rugby Union’s Austin Halewood spoke to the Exiles Captain, George Skivington, about how pre-season had gone, the shape of their squad and the club’s ambitions for the season.

Beginning with last season, though, George admitted that it was a difficult one to endure for both the club and the fans.

“It was a difficult one for us all really. We had some good performances and even some of the games we lost, we actually did some really good things in; but, at the end of the day, we lost them.

“We lost a lot of games by small margins, which was really frustrating as sometimes I really felt that we were the better team. But, you know, they kicked their points and took the chances that they got and we didn’t do the same with all of ours.

“It was a massive learning curve for us and we bled a lot of players last year who didn’t have much experience at the top level and they’re much better for it this year.

“Finishing tenth isn’t great and it doesn’t sit well with the boys but I think the lessons we learned and the experience some of the guys gained will hold us in really good stead for this year.”

Looking into last season in closer detail, a large amount of the Exiles’ defeats came by just a few points and George admitted the club have put in work to help turn these small margins into victories.

“I think one thing that didn’t help us last year was the size of our squad. A lot of the games we lost a couple of key players and we just didn’t have the strength in numbers to replace them.

“A lot of the guys were then asked to play out of position or lots of rugby on the bounce without getting any rest.

“But on top of the squad it is really about being clinical in the right areas and taking our points when they are on offer. It is something we have needed to work on and we have tried to go out and do that.

“We are just looking forward to getting that real competitive chance to try it out and get it right.”

Moving on to the squad itself, now, and the aforementioned loss of Yarde and O’Connor, we asked George what effect that would have on their side, particularly what taking away both front-line wingers will do to their attacking threat.

“These sort of things are just what you have to deal with as a club in the game,” George began, “and for someone like James, he was only ever here short term so he was never in the plans for more than a season. So that wasn’t a major issue.

“But, on the other hand, Marland, obviously, is the best winger in the country at the moment and he’s one of those guys who can turn a game on its head. So it was really disappointing to lose him last year.

“He’s got to do what is right for him, though, and I respect him for making the decision.

“These are the sort of challenges you get and no one, really, stays in the same club for their whole career now and moves when they think it’s right to move.

“As a club we’ve got to just forget that now and we’ve recruited well with a great back three and although they aren’t as high-profile as Marland, they want it and they’ll work hard for it.”

Another position that the Exiles have recruited heavily in this summer is the front row. Additions like Tom Court and Geoff Cross have really stamped down London Irish’s intentions of being strong up-front.

“The guys who are in-charge of recruitment obviously identified the areas that they thought we were weak in and they went hard at getting someone of Tom’s calibre into the team.

“And they’ve done that in the back row, second row and right the way across the pack; they’ve identified that we were light last year and that we were short on numbers.

“When we lost players we dropped off so they have gone and added the guys that they think will fill those holes and with their skills and leadership we should hopefully do well.”

Finally, with the season now underway the fixtures will be coming in thick and fast. The Irish will have to dust themselves down after falling to Harlequins as they travel north to face Newcastle, but as a team, what are their ambitions this season:

“Every team in the league wants to be in the top six and get ourselves qualified, but it’s not really about setting a specific target in the league.

“The club has undergone a lot of change as it’s now a new era for the club. The money guys have set foundations now for the club to really push on and for us as players we just want to see more consistency.

“Not everything can go your way all of the time but the big thing is just to be playing consistently well and with that we can hopefully turn things around.”