Gloucester confirm Ross Byrne is staying despite links to French move

Gloucester head coach George Skivington has confirmed that Ross Byrne will stay at Kingsholm for the coming season, ending speculation that the former Ireland fly-half could return to Irish rugby or join a French club following a frustrating first year in the Premiership.

Byrne, a Grand Slam winner with Ireland three years ago and a five-time United Rugby Championship champion with Leinster, held talks with Perpignan during the summer after struggling to establish himself in the West Country. His only appearance last season was a 16-minute substitute role in a Premiership Cup win over Sale Sharks in February, with young rival Charlie Atkinson seizing the first-choice shirt and holding it throughout.

Skivington was candid about how the situation unfolded. “Ross is still with us. It was a combination of things really, but the biggest thing last year was Charlie upped his game,” the head coach said. “He got an opportunity, and he’s been playing well for us. Ross happened to be a headline signing, and Charlie, who we’ve invested a number of years in, comes through — and that’s the way it is.”

Skivington acknowledged that the structure of last season left little room to work Byrne back into the side. “By that point we’re out of Europe, and then the PREM was broken up, so the season didn’t allow for rotation for the position we were in. It was a little bit of a perfect storm.”

Despite that, the Gloucester coach struck an optimistic note about Byrne’s prospects heading into the new campaign. “Ross is with us and he has had a great pre-season, so we’ll see what happens. I think he has to get more game time. We’re starting here in three tournaments at this point, so there will be opportunities to rest and rotate.”

Skivington also made clear that Gloucester have no intention of leaving Byrne marooned in training. “We’ve had some good conversations at the start of the year. No one wants him doing that role. That’s not what we brought him in for.”

For Byrne, the new season represents a genuine chance to rebuild after a year in which circumstance and competition conspired against him. With Gloucester competing across multiple tournaments, the 29-year-old should find the game time that eluded him in 2023-24.