Gloucester Rugby hoping Welsh connection will see side challenge for title again

As Wales heavyweights Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake make their way across the border, Gloucester Rugby fans will hope the tide is starting to turn and one of England’s grand old clubs can challenge at the top once again.

The Wales co-captains have signed from Ospreys, a club whose position as a professional outfit is in serious jeopardy as the Wales Rugby Union plan to cut a region by 2028/2029.

Morgan brings 24 international caps and 50 appearances for the Swansea-based Ospreys to Kingsholm, which will host Champions Cup rugby after beating Harlequins to the final top-tier spot by a point.

They are the latest Wales stars to ply their trade at Kingsholm, joining up with Max Llewellyn, and where Bristol’s Louis Rees-Zammit first introduced himself on the English rugby stage.

Morgan, the Swansea-born flanker, says he is glad to have Lake around to help settle into new surroundings: “I spent eight weeks with Dewi at the Rugby World Cup, I think that was enough! But, no, he’s one of the best roommates I’ve had and he’s a great friend of mine.

“We’re not living together, but live quite close. We’ve both settled in and it’s been helpful having a close friend at the club.

“It also helps that there’s other boys like Max Llewellyn and Freddie Thomas who me and Dewi have both played with a few times, so it’s been great to have them there. We can move easy and the squad have made the move an amazing one.

“I’ve always wanted to try to learn every year and this season at Gloucester, I’m trying to be better as a player. When I watch the Prem, every game is competitive. A lot of the teams are close to each other so a lot of the players are with each other often. I’m looking forward to playing in as many games and experiencing different atmospheres to see how competitive the league is.”

Morgan has been impressed by the set-up in Gloucester and has been welcomed to the cherry and white stable after seven years at Scarlets and Ospreys.

“I’m really excited, it’s been a big move and I’m excited to get going, I’ve now been in training for a couple of weeks and I’ve really enjoyed it, they’re a good bunch of boys and a good coaching group,” said Morgan.

“I’m looking forward to the start of the season and getting going with everyone. You’re always expecting a challenge when you’re able to come into a new environment with a lot of great players.

“It’s been great see the facilities in Gloucester, we move around to break up the day with skills in the morning and then training in the afternoon. The boys and the coaches have been really welcoming and they’ve made it much easier to join up over the last couple weeks.”

Gloucester have qualified for the Gallagher Prem semi-finals just once in the past 15 seasons and are more commonly found in the bottom half of the standings. They finished fifth a couple of seasons ago and won silverware in 2024, picking up the Prem Rugby Cup, while two successive seasons in the Champions Cup, after falling into the Challenge Cup and reaching the final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, does show that the project at Kingsholm is slowly growing. They were the second-worst points-scoring side last season, with an average of three tries scored per game, showing that the level of attacking threat in the Prem has levelled up.

Morgan, a Lion last summer, missed the start of this year’s Six Nations due to a dislocated shoulder as well as a subsequent knee injury. He said he was attracted to the project because of the attacking style boss George Skivington is trying to build.

“You can see that Gloucester play a nice and attacking style, that’s something I can hopefully contribute to and enjoy – that was something that was attractive for me to go to Gloucester,” the Welshman revealed.

“Hopefully I can be the best version of myself for the team. I’ve walked around Gloucester a couple of times and people have said ‘Welcome to Gloucester’ to me.

“We had an open training session and a lot of supporters came out to watch, with lots of kids there, so it’s great to be able to see them there and meet a lot of the fans.

“They’re really passionate and everyone says that about the Shed, I look forward to playing in front of them and hearing the crowds. I’ve heard that Shed crowds are quite loud and they’re good supporters.”

Gloucester’s home West Country derby against Bath comes early in the season under the lights on Friday, October 23, before they travel to The Rec on Saturday, March 20. A derby over the bridge against Bristol Bears is set for Saturday, April 17, at the Principality Stadium, after hosting Bears on New Year’s Day for festive Friday night clash.

Gloucester won their home Ed Slater Cup tie against Leicester Tigers to Villa Park last season, taking advantage of their new academy pathway catchment, however the match returns to Kingsholm on Saturday, March 27.

The Cherry & Whites open their Prem campaign at Sandy Park facing Exeter Chiefs on Saturday, September 26, bookending their season with the return fixture at Kingsholm in June. Skivington will continue as head coach in the role he reverted to in March 2026, reporting to technical director Chris Boyd.

Kiwi Boyd was director of rugby at Northampton Saints between 2018 and 2022 and he has taken on a similar role to allow Skivington to focus on coaching. Castle Grim has new faces in the squad and a new direction in the coaches’ room in a statement of intent this Prem Rugby season that progress up the table is key.