Gloucester Rugby will be in for a tough match against the reigning Gallagher Premiership champions in London tomorrow. Saracens host the Cherry & Whites in the second Premiership Rugby Cup fixture of the season, but new signing, Ben Donnell, is confident in his side’s ability.
“We’ll have to put up a good fight but I think we have a very good chance of beating them.
“We looked very sharp in training today; we were sharp on Saturday, so I see no reason why we can’t do them over.”
Tomorrow’s hosts are coming off the back of a shock loss to Championship side, Coventry, but Donnell says they’re not underestimating them.
“Coventry are a good side. I don’t think it was necessarily a poor performance from Saracens, I think Coventry were very good.
“Saracens will bounce back from that, they’re not the champions of everything for no reason, so it will be a big test.”
Donnell made his Cherry & Whites debut in last weekend’s 42-14 win over Nottingham, the versatile forward enjoyed his first outing in front of the Shed.
“It was brilliant, I’ve experienced the atmosphere here a couple of times on the other end, but it was a bit different to have the Gloucester fans being on my side.
“It’s unbelievable, it really is that 16th man and it boosts everyone.”
Despite a convincing score line, Donnell praised the Championship opposition’s desire.
“They put up a good fight, we knew they’d be a decent side and to be fair to them, they were tough. But we stuck to our processes and broke them down.
“We were slightly disappointed that we didn’t win the second half, but that’s a testament to Nottingham and how well they played.”
However, Donnell was delighted to be on the field after a long pre-season.
“It’s a long old pre-season with the World Cup, everyone here has just been waiting for these games, that’s why we play rugby, that’s the fun part.
“That’s what I love, that’s what I enjoy and to do it in front of all these people was amazing.”
The forward is confident there’s more to come from this Cherry & Whites side this season.
“It was our first game, so it’s never going to be perfect, it’s never going to be the finished article. That’s the baseline now and we’re only going to kick on from here.”
Finally, Donnell says he’s focussing on putting in some big personal performances, to show his new coaches what he can do, and put his hand up for the start of the Gallagher Premiership season on 14 October.
“I just want to show what I can do through these games and then it’s down to Skivs and the coaches whether they pick me or not.”
