Gloucester Rugby came close to ending their losing streak despite a narrow 26-24 defeat against Edinburgh Rugby at the Hive Stadium on Friday night, in the third pool stage game of the 2025/26 Investec Champions Cup. Head coach George Skivington’s bold decision to start Charlie Atkinson at fly-half injected fresh attacking threat into the team, providing hope for better days ahead.
With new signing Ross Byrne watching from the bench, Atkinson quickly made his mark. Just 90 seconds into the match, a deft interplay between the Atkinson brothers set up skipper Seb Atkinson, who expertly offloaded to Josh Hathaway. Hathaway’s blistering pace saw him outrun Scotland’s all-time top try scorer Duhan van der Merwe to score the opening try, igniting wild celebrations from the visitors.
Full-back George Barton contributed with accurate kicking, adding three penalties throughout the first half to stretch Gloucester’s lead to nine points. Despite this, Edinburgh fought back fiercely. Former Gloucester scrum-half Ben Vellacott exploited a blindside gap for a try in the 17th minute, before Ewan Ashman powered over later in the match.
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Edinburgh’s relentless pressure paid off in the final quarter. An inspiring offload from lock Glen Young released flanker Liam McConnell, who scored under the posts. Then, a penalty try awarded after Atkinson was shown a yellow card for illegally halting a powerful Edinburgh maul flipped the scoreboard, giving the home side a narrow lead for the first time.
Gloucester’s resilience shone through, particularly as they battled on with just 14 men for a short spell and fought hard despite missing key players to injury, including hookers. Barton’s late 40m penalty made it a two-point game, but Gloucester couldn’t find the final score to snatch victory.
Despite the setback, Barton remains optimistic: “After a tough run, the bounce back from last week was amazing. We showed real character to claw our way back. It feels like we’re heading toward the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Gloucester now turn their attention to their crucial final pool game against Toulon at Kingsholm, with hopes of securing a spot in the Champions Cup knockout stages or at least a place in the Challenge Cup bolstered by their losing bonus point.
Edinburgh Rugby lineup featured key players like Wes Goosen, Darcy Graham, and captain Magnus Bradbury, while Gloucester fielded a strong side led by the Atkinson brothers and supported by George Barton’s consistent kicking.