The 24 year-old is excited by the prospect of lining up in another West Country derby, and admits that these are the games that he thrives in.

“From a personal perspective, I relish playing in these sort of atmospheres - the more hostile the better,” Douglas said.

“It is a derby game and they always mean a lot. We are going to go out there and put our bodies on the line and use it to build into the game against Bristol Bears next weekend.”

Douglas believes the squad will take a number of positives out of the first three games, but is well aware of what the group need to do to ensure the pre-season preparation translates into a strong start in the Gallagher Premiership.

He said: “We need to take pride sometimes in the fact that we have looked really good in places, especially against Worcester in our attack. We missed some opportunities against Leicester Tigers to capitalise and score, but when you look at our set piece in both attack and defence, we have been really good.

“We just need to continue to work on the things that we didn’t do so well and then build from this evening into the Premiership.”

“It is a great opportunity to implement what we have learnt in pre-season and it gives you the perfect opportunity to try out different combinations in the forwards and the backs and see what works well and what we can adjust to implement what we have learnt in the off season.”

Douglas has been hugely encouraged by the way that some of the younger players have equipped themselves in the Premiership Rugby Cup block, which will bode well for a busy season in both domestically and in Europe.

Douglas added: “I am really impressed with them, the likes of Nahum Merigan, Max Ojomoh, Gabe Hamer-Webb - all three of them have stood up and put their hands up for selection and put in good shifts.

“An honourable mention should go to Levi Davis, over the last three games has played unbelievable and has really come into his own and having scored three times in the process.”

Douglas relishing the prospect of Kingsholm test

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