Opposition view: Saints did 'a great job' against 'gung-ho' Gloucester

The Cherry and Whites eventually secured a 41-26 Gallagher Premiership final-day win.

But it wasn't good enough to book them a play-off place as wins for Bristol Bears and Sale Sharks meant Gloucester finished fifth.

Saints had pushed Skivington's side all the way, despite making 14 changes from the previous Saturday's Investec Champions Cup final.

And the Gloucester boss was complimentary about Phil Dowson's men while admitting his own team didn't hit their top level.

Skivington said: “It was not our best performance today but we still got the job done.

“We went at it on a gung-ho basis in the first quarter and that played into their hands and they did a great job.

“We then brought some physicality to our game to get us over the line but it wasn’t enough for the play-off spot.

“We’ve provided some great performances here but away from home it’s been different. The two that stick in my mind were the away games at Sarries and Quins, as we were poor on both those occasions and needed to take something from those fixtures, which ultimately cost us.”