George Skivington has backed Josh Hathaway to continue to go from strength to strength as the young winger attempts to follow in the slipstream of Louis Rees-Zammit and be a big hit for club and country.
Hathaway only turned 20 in October but already has two Wales caps to his name – against Australia and South Africa in the 2024 Autumn Nations Series – and over 50 senior appearances for Gloucester.
“I think Josh’s physicality has been really good the last few weeks,” said Skivington, who celebrated his 100th Premiership game in charge of Gloucester on Saturday.
“He’s probably matured as a young man to understand that the wing gets so much action in the Premiership now – under the high ball, making tackles … there is a lot more to it than there was 10 years ago or whatever. But he is still learning and he still has some way to go.”
Comparison to Louis Rees-Zammit
“Is he on the same trajectory as Zam? He’s probably not going to get there as quickly, as Zam’s out-and-out gas was something unique, and the size of the bloke, but I do think Josh wants to get there, and I do think he has got the skill set to get there.
“He is really applying himself and maturing nicely and over the next couple of seasons, hopefully he will go from strength to strength. He is a good lad, he works really hard and we’ll do our best to push him there.”
Like NFL convert Rees-Zammit, Aberystwyth-born Hathaway developed his game at Hartpury College before graduating to the Gloucester set-up.
But Gloucester’s reputation for acquiring talent from Wales has seen them earn the reputation for being a de facto fifth Welsh region.
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Fifth Region
Five Welsh internationals started last weekend’s 22-15 defeat to Exeter, including Hathaway, centre Max Llewelyn, half-back duo, Tomos Williams and Gareth Anscombe, and homegrown forward Freddie Thomas.
Skivington insists the recruitment of so many players from across the Severn Bridge was not a strategic move by Gloucester.
“My wife is Welsh so she is pushing me hard to make sure the nation gets some good players playing in the Premiership,” he joked.
“But to be honest with you, it’s just happened. We are close to Wales, and the lads who want to come to the Premiership, we are appealing to them.
“It started really with Max coming over (from Cardiff). Josh was in our academy anyway, and with Tommy and Gareth we went looking for some quality half-backs who were more senior, and then Freddie goes and gets capped.
“So it is not really by design anything to do with the Welsh, it’s more sort of fallen into place for us. They have been brilliant additions.
“Tommy and Gareth coming in have really added a different dimension to what we have been doing.”
Getting more England Internationals
While Gloucester’s squad is stacked with Welsh internationals, the club didn’t have a single England representative over the autumn.
It is something that Skivington wants to put right. He said: “My objective is to get as many England players over the next few years as possible, that’s the reality.
“I think we have got enough players who are young and good enough to do it. It helps the club massively if you have got England players.
“There is a lot of financial reward in that as well, so there’s two levels. But I do believe we will have a number of lads in the England set up over the next couple of years, hopefully more in the English set up than in the Welsh!”
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