In the summer of 2006 he joined English Premiership side Gloucester Rugby when he was considered by many top judges to be one of the best players in the world around the time, and stepped straight into the starting team for their first game of the season, immediately taking the role of captain. He made a formidable partnership with Alex Brown and shared captaincy with Peter Buxton. Due to injuries and World Cup commitments, the 2007–08 season wasn't as consistent and he lost the Italian captaincy to Italian No. 8 Sergio Parisse, but continued to put in powerful performances for Gloucester. His outstanding leadership qualities meant he kept the captaincy last year and by the end of the season he was back to his formidable best. He made 23 appearances for Gloucester in 2008–09.