Skivington 'not feeling pressure' before cup final

George Skivington has come under pressure after Gloucester's disappointing Premiership form

Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington says he is "not feeling any pressure" over his future before Friday's European Challenge Cup final.

The Cherry and Whites take on South African side Sharks on Friday, 24 May at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, aiming to lift their second trophy of the season.

Gloucester won the Premiership Rugby Cup in March but finished second-bottom of the league in ninth place after a disappointing campaign that included a club-record run of defeats and a 90-0 loss to Northampton two weeks ago.

"I'm not feeling any pressure like that on the result of this game," Skivington told BBC Five Live Sport.

"I'm feeling the pressure that we made a decision earlier in the year to go after the two cups, and I think that's ultimately a pressure you want as a DOR [director of rugby].

"You want to be going to finals and see if the plans are in place and if you've managed to do what you set out to do.

"I keep myself pretty focused on what I'm doing so what gets said and what doesn't get said isn't really a concern of mine, because I just stay focused on the job. That's not something I'm even thinking about."

Gloucester beat Italian side Benetton in the semi-finals to reach a fifth European Challenge Cup final

Gloucester's chief executive Alex Brown said earlier this month that the club "have to get this European final right".

A review of the season will be conducted over the summer although Brown said Skivington - who is under contract - had the club's backing.

Gloucester are unbeaten in the Challenge Cup, having been the only team in the competition to come through the group stage without a loss.

They beat Castres, Ospreys and Benetton in the knockout stages to reach their fifth Challenge Cup final, a competition Gloucester won in 2006 and 2015.

"The emotion is pretty solid, this week will be heightened," Skivington said.

"We don't need to talk too much about it - it's a final and obviously we'll review who we're up against but I think everyone is well aware of that.

"You play because you want to get to finals at the end of the season and the lads have earnt the right to go to Tottenham and have a crack."

Skivington said the prospect of a record-equalling third Challenge Cup title to take them level with Clermont and Harlequins would be "great for the club".

"We try to get some silverware in the club, there's not a lot of trophies in the cabinet," he said.

"We shifted tact slightly when we knew one of them [Premiership] was out of reach but for me it's really important - the more finals we get to hopefully will lead to more trophies."