Gloucester Rugby: Davies hails Sinbad as the perfect role model

PEERLESS James Simpson-Daniel keeps on setting the standard – and now Nigel Davies has challenged Gloucester's other flyers to hit those heights.

Gloucester boss Davies hailed Simpson-Daniel as a rare talent, the like of which perhaps only crops up once a generation.

Rugby director Davies said few players strike such consistent excellence without regular international acclaim.

Doubtless the Cherry and Whites chief is just as confused as the rest of Kingsholm at Sinbad's lack of luck with England.

As ever England's loss is Gloucester's gain – and Davies has called on his developing wide men to keep following the 30-year-old's wily and guileful lead.

Simpson-Daniel struck a vintage score in Saturday's 29-22 Wasps victory, typically bamboozling his way through heavy traffic to weave home.

And now Davies wants developing talents like Jonny May and Charlie Sharples to keep learning from their experienced colleague.

Davies explained: "It's fantastic to have a player of his quality: you don't see many of that calibre who don't play international rugby.

"And now he's passing on a lot of his knowledge and experience, he's passing that on to the younger players and that's a big help.

"It was a great try from Sinbad, and I said to him that we'd been waiting for that from him, just because he hadn't really had much chance to strike.

"That shows exactly what he can do, there were a lot of people around him and that was superb.

"Possibly he's the only player in the squad who could score a try like that – but then that's a great challenge for the others to work towards."

Resolute Gloucester continue to show durability under duress this term – but Davies said the Cherry and Whites must still make things easier on themselves.

Calling for improved finishing, Davies said chance conversion will prove paramount in the depths of winter.

He continued: "We've shown great resilience, we never give up and we're prepared to grind out wins and draws.

"That underpins this team, and when we become a bit more fluent I think we're going to be pretty dangerous in most aspects hopefully.

"We're not where we want to be yet, but that's a good thing in many ways, if we're still getting results.

"It was disappointing we let Wasps back into the game at the weekend, but the attack was pretty good overall.

"We do have to sharpen up our finishing though.

"As the winter weather draws in that's going to be increasingly important, because games tighten up naturally, and chances often decrease.

"We can see improvements all round as we've progressed, and that's very encouraging.

"Now we face a very tough game against London Welsh, and we'll need to raise the level again for that."

Nonplussed by a video refereeing scenario at the weekend, Davies said he hopes the new powers of the Television Match Official settle into a consistent pattern.

Referees can now refer a host of extra incidents to the TMO in televised matches, including foul play and potential infringements in the build-up to a try, or try-scoring opportunity.

Several minutes deliberation were wasted in the Wasps clash, when Billy Twelvetrees and Joe Simpson clambered for a loose ball in the Gloucester 22, falling in a heap.

Referee Martin Fox initially called a Gloucester scrum – and after an age of replays, that decision stood.

Davies said the new principles might be sound, but the practice definitely leaves a lot to be desired thus far.

He added: "I think we've got to be very careful there you know.

"That's exactly the kind of thing they said they would guard against at the start of the season.

"All these sorts of things settle down with time, but this was supposed to be for specific incidents of serious foul play or for situations where tries could have been scored but aren't, or issues that would rule out an otherwise good try.

"It's a frustration and the incident at the weekend seemed fairly straightforward.

"We don't want grey areas or the game to be slowed down, so I hope things settle into a rhythm on that front."