Gloucester Rugby club captain Dewi Lake is fit to lead his side against Northampton Saints on Saturday in Round Five of the 2026/27 Gallagher PREM as the table toppers look to finish on a high before the league takes a break for a month.
Hooker Lake missed Friday night’s 23-5 win against West Country derby rivals Bath, having taken a blow to the head in the 36-36 draw with Montpellier a week earlier in the Investec Champions Cup. Lake had a 12-day return-to-play protocol to go through, which ruled him out of the derby, but head coach George Skivington confirmed he will be fit to take to the field at Franklin’s Gardens against the defending champions.
There is less certainty around whether Seb Atkinson will be available, with the inside centre newly added to the England Enhance Player Squad, meaning the national team will have the final say on his fitness to take the field in the PREM this weekend, but the signs are looking positive.
Atkinson was pulled out of the derby late in the week after picking up a knee niggle and went into camp with England as part of the ‘rehabilitation group.’
Providing an update on his vice-captain, Skivington said on Tuesday:
” I haven’t spoken to Seb since he’s been in the England camp. His wasn’t a serious injury, so I’m hopeful he’ll be all good, but again, I haven’t spoken to him or anyone from England since Sunday, so we’ll see. “There will be a conversation with the England medical team, but I know he’s been running around. We’ll just wait and see what the conversations are at the end of today.”
And those conversations look to have been positive, with England head coach Steve Borthwick telling reporters on Tuesday he would not hold back Atkinson, or Exeter’s Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who came into camp with a minor hamstring niggle, from playing in the PREM this weekend.
Speaking at Pennyhill Park as the national team prepare to face Australia on November 8 in the opening Nations Championship game, Borthwick said:
“If there are medical reasons for them not to play, then yes [I would stop them playing]. If they’re fit, then they’re available for selection. “That comes down to the head coach or director of rugby of the club. Certainly there is a part of me watching these games and hoping the players get through the 80 minutes and are fit and available for next week.”
With each international team holding training camps this week ahead of the Nations Championship, every head coach around the PREM has faced significant disruption ahead of this final league game before a switch to the PREM Rugby Cup for a month during the Autumn internationals.
Skivington has been without his Welsh contingent of Lake, Jac Morgan, Freddie Thomas and Max Llewellyn, while Charlie Atkinson, Will Joseph, Arthur Clark and of course Seb Atkinson, have been with England.
Skivington said:
“We’re missing a good few lads for the first two days of training. So the collective who are here have had a really good couple of days; they trained really hard today. I think everybody will have trained hard, just in three different camps. “We’ll all come together Thursday, and it’s just about getting everybody together and doing what we can, and then we’re into the game. So it is a bit disjointed, but it’s disjointed for Saints as well.”
With a number of clear starters away from the club this week, more fringe players have had an opportunity to step forward in training, which is the position flanker James Venter finds himself in, having not played for the Cherry and Whites yet this season.
Skivington explained:
“He’s fit. He got injured at the start of the season with his hamstring, so he missed the first couple of weeks, but he is fit now. “He’s one of the guys who will be looking forward to the Prem Cup period, really, because unfortunately, he’s sort of come in and the lads are all going really well. The back row is an extremely competitive part of our squad, and all those guys, like Will Trenholm, have had to sit on the bench, and he’s been getting Man of the Match awards when he has played. So there are a few guys in the squad who have probably come in late after preseason, and it’s pretty competitive.”
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 09: Dewi Lake of Gloucester Rugbyis tackled by Finn Carnduff of Leicester Tigers during the Gallagher PREM 2026/2027 match between Leicester Tigers and Gloucester Rugby at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium on October 09, 2026 in Leicester, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)(Image: Getty Images)