Cowan flies in to give Glaws a derby boost

Results and performances going well, one of the biggest games of the season on the weekend horizon and the coach admitting he aiming for the top four ... what more do you need when all that's going on?

A World Cup-winning All Black, of course.

And that’s just what Gloucester have got this week as they prepare for Saturday’s Kingsholm showdown against Bath, scrum-half Jimmy Cowan flying in from the other side of the world to admit that he doesn’t know when he’ll get a game.

"I'm not here to wind down,” he told the Citizen. “I'm ready to test myself against the best players and the best teams in the Premiership.

"Gloucester's a great club that reminds me a lot of home. It's quite a parochial club, in a good way. The fans care massively and the passion is clear for everyone to see.

"I can't wait for my chance to play at Kingsholm, in front of The Shed and the Glaws family.

"But I've got to fight for my place and earn my stripes – and I've seen what Dan Robson and Dave Lewis have done so far this year, and they are going really well.”

It’s unlikely he will start against Bath, so early in his Glaws career, but his arrival provides a timely boost for a squad already motoring in the Premiership.

The bath game is always important, but coach Nigel Davies says this one is even more so at the end of the opening half-dozen Premiership games.

"We've improved our performances gradually, and we're looking to continue that process,” he said. "We've had three away performances and results that we're relatively happy with, and we're pleased with where we are at this point overall.

"We realise we've got a big game on Saturday – it ends the first phase of rugby for us, and we want to finish as high up this table as we can after this first block of league matches.

"But then it's also a massively important game in its own right, because it's the derby.

"I'm well aware of the importance of this match, I've watched Gloucester-Bath from afar over the years, and it's always compelling.

"But in the context of our season it's a very important game anyway, in its own right.

"It's vitally important players play with their heads – we've got to have the passion to deliver the performance. But part of doing that is keeping cool heads, and keeping focused.

"We've got to keep on trying to do what we're trying to do as a team."

The man seems to have the knack of making sense every time he speaks.