Gloucester Rugby host Sale Sharks at Kingsholm tomorrow, in their final home game of the Cherry & Whites’ 2022/23 season.

With Sale sitting second in the Gallagher Premiership, Seb Atkinson knows the Cherry & Whites are in for a tough test but says he’s looking forward to the challenge.

“We definitely get up for these big games. Playing a big team, we have nothing to lose.

"We know we’ve got the team and individuals here to get a good result, but we’ve just got to throw everything at it, be accurate, and be disciplined.”

Atkinson says the team are looking to make the fans proud in their final home game of the season.

“It’s always a pleasure playing at Kingsholm and we’re definitely looking to perform for the fans.

“We have to make the most out of our last game here for a while.”

Atkinson, who joined from Worcester mid-season, experienced his first derby at Kingsholm last weekend, picking up a try in the process. He was pleased to be involved, despite being on the wrong end of the score-line.

“The atmosphere was incredible; it was everything I expected.

“I think we put in a good fight for large parts of the game but just couldn’t get across the line in the end.

“We’ve looked at that and hopefully, we can improve on that this weekend.”

He says the side are motivated to turn things around this weekend.

“We’re very motivated to put that right this week.

This second half of the season we haven’t been where we want to be, but I think we’ve grown our game as a group and we’re improving week on week.

“Now we have to show it on the pitch and put in a good performance and this week is a great opportunity to do that.”

The 20-year-old has enjoyed a consistent run of games in Cherry & White since he arrived, partly down to injury, but mostly down to his red-hot form when handed an opportunity to impress. He’s enjoying his time on the pitch.

“It’s really nice to develop around the coaching staff and players that we have here at Gloucester.

“Playing week on week is allowing me to work on the things I need to improve and playing regular rugby is enjoyable, so I look forward to playing every weekend.”

But he says he still has plenty of desire to improve.

“There’s definitely more to come, I’m still young so there are lots that I can improve on.

“I’m just trying to build week after week. I’m not looking too much at the bigger picture, just working on the little things every week and keep getting better.”

You can purchase tickets for Gloucester Rugby’s final Kingsholm fixture of the season here.

"We've got to throw everything at it" says Atkinson ahead of Sale

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