Saracens

Ground: Kingsholm, Kingsholm Road, Gloucester GL1 3AX

Capacity: 11,000

Switchboard: T: 0871 8718781 F: 01452 383 321

Coach: Dean Ryan

Website: http://www.gloucesterrugbyclub.com

Captain: Adam Balding

Ones to watch: Ryan Lamb, James Forrester

Club mascot: None

Directions:

By Road: From London – M4 westbound to junction 15 (Swindon), then A419/417 to Gloucester. At Zoons Court roundabout follow signs to A40 to Ross and go along Northern Bypass. At Longford Road roundabout (where A40 crosses A38) turn left towards City Centre. (Alternatively, take M40 out of London and A40 from east of Oxford to Longford Road roundabout). Go straight over the Tewkesbury Road roundabout for the ground, or for free parking, turn right and follow signs to Cattle Marker Park and Ride car park, which is five minutes walk from the ground.

Review
Gloucester just missed out on a top four place in the 2005/06 Guinness Premiership as they suffered a dramatic final day defeat to London Wasps when they seemed to have the match already won.

Their overall fifth place was an improvement by one spot on the previous season and was enough to ensure Heineken Cup rugby at Kingsholm for the forthcoming campaign.
Although they lost 10 matches over the season, perhaps the biggest difference that separated them from the other mid-table teams was their losing bonus points – they picked up nine of them. Another reason would be their defensive record with them conceding 30 points fewer than any other side.

They won the European Challenge Cup beating fellow Premiership side London Irish in the final after extra time at the Twickenham Stoop. They sailed through the Group stages winning all six matches before beating Brive in the Quarter final and Worcester in the semis.

In the Powergen Cup they won their opening two matches against Ospreys and Bristol and went head to head with Bath for a place in the semis going down 21-12 as their West Country rivals went through.

James Simpson Daniel topped the try scoring list with six and became the clubs all time leading try scorer in league rugby with 28 - four more than the previous record held by Chris Catling.

Ludovic Mercier topped the Gloucester scoring charts for the third time on his return to the club and set a new record for penalties in a season 49, one more than his own record dating back to the 2001/02 season.