Gloucester made the Premiership play-offs 11 years ago, the first season Charlie Sharples spent with the club, but they have done so only once since, in 2011. The former England wing is now the longest-serving player at Kingsholm – the fact he has also yet to reach 30 is a pointer to why the Cherry and Whites have spent much of the past decade floundering in the wrong half of the table.
Frequent changes in the playing and coaching staffs have spawned inconsistency, but there is a more settled feel to Gloucester now. They started the weekend third in the table, with three of their five remaining matches coming against teams just below them in Northampton, Bath and Sale.
“The club has not been in a better place since my first season,” says the 29-year-old Sharples, who won the last of his four caps in 2012. “It was a rollercoaster after that: up one week, down the next. The blueprint of successful clubs like Saracens and Exeter is the stability they enjoy through having continuity with their squad and coaches.
“In contrast, we have had a big turnover. I remember one season when 15 players left and 15 came in. It is more stable now and we are in a good position. We are not the finished article, but the outlook is promising. Making the play-offs would take us towards the next step, which is to be a top-four team regularly and to make an impact in Europe.”
One drag for Gloucester has been their poor away form. In the six seasons before this one, they won 18 league matches on the road out of 72, most of them against clubs battling to avoid relegation – an average of three per campaign. They have reached that number with three to go this season, starting with Northampton on Sunday. Their last victory at Franklin’s Gardens in the league came in 2013.
“The Premiership is a highly competitive league and the margins are fine,” says Sharples. “A difference between being stuck in the bottom half and competing for a place in the top four is, if you win the majority of your home matches, your away form. This season we won at Harlequins for the first time in a while [2006] and Wasps [2011]. Northampton have been playing well but we have to focus on ourselves. The confidence we have developed is starting to shine through and a difference now is that we are winning matches when not at our best.”
The reward for the sides that finish third or fourth will be a trip to Exeter or Saracens in the play‑offs, unless the latter implode. It is 11 years since Gloucester won at Sarries but they have won four of their nine league matches at Sandy Park, where they prevailed in the European Cup in December.
“To win the title, you will have to beat Exeter and Saracens back-to-back, but we cannot be thinking about that because we still have to qualify for the play-offs and there is a long way to go,” says Sharples, who earlier this season signed a new contract with the club he supported as a boy.
“I hope to spend my entire career here,” he said. “When I was left out by England, I questioned whether moving would be better for my prospects, but you always have to look within. I did not play more for England because I did not do enough when I had the opportunity. There is no club I would rather play for than Gloucester and that is always a big factor in my performances.”
