Ludlow describes losing Gloucester captaincy as "brutal" and eyes testimonial goals

Gloucester flanker Lewis Ludlow said it was "brutal" to lose the club captaincy last August and told BBC Radio Gloucestershire he would "take it back tomorrow" if offered.

Ludlow has made more than 250 appearances for the Cherry and Whites and served as club skipper from 2020 to 2025, a spell that made him the longest-serving captain in Gloucester's history. He was replaced by Tomos Williams for the 2025-26 season, although the Welshman signed for Saracens this summer. Ludlow gave an hour-long interview as he prepares for his testimonial season at the Prem club.

Although he had expected the captaincy change at some point, Ludlow said the timing — during pre-season — surprised him. "I'd kind of prepared myself for it because it was always going to happen at some point," he said. "I didn't think it would be that timing but it was and I felt like the only thing I could do then was worry about my rugby and be the best bloke I could be to help Tommy [Williams]."

Team-mates continued to refer to him as 'Skip' and match officials still sought him out after games because of his former role, Ludlow said. He described the relationship with Williams as one of mutual adjustment and added: "We did as good as we could in terms of balancing him being captain, me still leading where I could and trying to be as effective as possible," Ludlow said.

Ludlow's only England appearances came in 2021, when Eddie Jones named him captain for the Twickenham matches against the USA and Canada while many players were away on Lions duty. He became the fifth player to captain England on his debut, but a red card against Canada resulted in a four-game ban and he did not play for England again. "It was possibly the nicest thing anyone's ever written about me and he [Jones] explained why he picked me as captain, the leadership skills I've shown and how he'd been to watch all the games during the season," Ludlow said. "It was what I was doing in the warm-ups, what I was doing in the huddles, what I was doing post-game, which is why he wanted to make me the captain."

The 2025-26 campaign was interrupted by persistent hand and wrist problems that required surgery in April to fuse joints in his thumb on his right hand. Ludlow said the operation has left him largely pain free for the first time in five years, although he will continue to wear a cast during matches. "To be able to just do normal everyday tasks without things hurting as much as they did, it's quite strange really, but it was a nice feeling," he said, noting pain had sometimes prevented him from picking up his young son or everyday items.

For his testimonial season Ludlow has two clear aims: to raise funds for 4Ed, set up by former team-mate Ed Slater after his motor neurone disease diagnosis, and for the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals. "I want to give as much to those two charities as possible to be able to make a statement of 'this is what I've given these guys' and be able to list off to fans where it's gone and how it's done and how it's worked out," he said.

The 2026-27 season will be Ludlow's 14th with Gloucester after coming through the club's academy and he has set his sights on overtaking Nick Wood's professional-era appearance record of 277 games. He said he needs 13 matches during the season to achieve that total and added: "I know when and where it should be, but there's a long way to go before then."