The Irish have indicated that they could take legal action against Gallagher Premiership rival Gloucester after signing George Skivington. Skivington, previously a striker coach at London Irish, was confirmed yesterday as Gloucester’s new head coach.
Skivington had a year to sign his contract with London Irish, and the club claimed that Gloucester had violated the protocol by contacting Skivington without first notifying London’s Irish management.
A statement released by London Irish said: “Brian Facer, London Irish chief executive, says the club will reserve the right to consider all of its options after Gloucester announced the appointment of George Skivington as the new head coach.
“The news comes from Kingsholm, although Skivington was under contract with London Irish until the summer of 2021 and there was no informal or formal approach between Gloucester’s management and London Irish’s management to get permission from the former English Saxon to speak.
“Skivington has been a striker coach at Hazelwood since retiring as a player in 2016. He has led the Exiles team to two championship promotions and most recently restored London Irish as a force to be reckoned with in the Gallagher Premiership.
“He is highly valued by both the Irish players from London, the Rugby Declan Kidney director, head coach Les Kiss and the club’s other coaches.”
However, Facer says it appears that the Premiership’s rugby protocols regarding incentives for coaches currently under contract have been broken.
“To say that we are disappointed with Gloucester’s announcement is an understatement,” said Facer.
“George is very popular and respected in Hazelwood and it is understandable that we don’t want to lose him, especially just before the game resumes after the suspension. We also know that he is an ambitious young man who would enjoy the opportunity to become a club head coach one day.
“However, the minutes clearly show that a club must be addressed in writing if there is more than six months left for the contract, regardless of whether it is a player or a coach.
“George is under contract with London Irish until June 2021 and has not given us the necessary notice, nor has the terms of his contract been violated. More importantly, we have never received a proactive notification from Gloucester.
“We therefore believe that Gloucester has violated the Premiership Rugby Code of Conduct in terms of incentives and approaches for a contractor, coaching staff and other contractor.
“This is an extremely serious problem. We reserve the right to review all of our options under the Premiership Rugby Governance Protocols and other remedies.”
Skivington will take over on July 3rd.
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