By Cherry Picker
May 17 2007

Coach Dean Ryan says that reaching the Premiership final in May was just the start for his Gloucester team. Minutes after being steam-rollered by Leicester Tigers, Ryan began to look forward to the next stage of his team’s development rather than looking back on what he admitted was a one-sided game once the Tigers took control.

 

And if Ryan's positive outlook transfers to the players, there is no reason to suspect that the team can’t continue to do well once they get over their Twickenham disappointment (above).

After just one season together, the average age of the Gloucester squad is in the low 20s, and since the Leicester defeat they have made some exciting new signings that can only improve results and performances in 2007-08.

“We have only been together a year as a group,” said Ryan. “Reaching the final was a fantastic achievement, but it was just the start for us.”

Ryan told the Gloucester Citizen: "I'm proud of this team's achievements and no one associated with Gloucester should lose sight of that.

"In the final, physically we came off second best in just about every department, but we were in a final very early into our development and I'm proud they got here. Coming third or fourth wouldn't have served the same purpose.
"We found when we got to the final that we weren't at the same level as Leicester. If this side can reach finals halfway up its development curve I would expect it to be visiting finals on a regular basis."

Gloucester fly-half Ryan Lamb echoed the coach’s sentiments and said: “Leicester blew us away. But we can come back stronger after that ordeal – we must learn from the defeat and what happened at Twickenham.”