When George Skivington became the Gloucester coach at the end of June, Danny Cipriani hailed the appointment as the most forward thinking and exciting he had come across in rugby and was grateful to be seeing out his playing days under his former Wasps teammate.

Less than six months later, Cipriani has gone, leaving Gloucester without an experienced replacement. Skivington said the parting was amicable and there was no falling out but the approach to the Scotland fly-half Adam Hastings, who will join next season, was a sign the club were thinking of life without the 33-year old, who joined in 2018 from Wasps.

“There comes a point when a player feels he has to move on,” said Skivington, who does not know where Cipriani – whose only appearance this season was on the opening weekend at Leicester – would resume his career. The club season in Japan and the US start in the new year.

“There has been no incident or falling out and there is nothing financial about it. It is a rugby thing and how he feels,” Skivington said. “I have a good, honest relationship with him and a couple of weeks ago he said he felt it was time for a new challenge.

“The discussions were easy and it was a really simple process. There was no smoke and mirrors; it is what it is. It is always sad when you have to say goodbye to someone of his quality, but I am very comfortable that it is the right thing for him to do. When a player wants to move on, there is no point in trying to keep him because it causes dramas.”

When Cipriani joined Gloucester despite receiving bigger financial offers from French clubs, his motivation was to make England’s World Cup squad the following year but, now his international career is all but over after 16 caps, he would not be making a sacrifice by ending a contract 19 months early and moving abroad.

This year he revealed he had had mental health problems but Skivington said their conversations were related purely to the game.

“After much deliberation, I have decided to leave Gloucester,” Cipriani wrote on Twitter. “I have mixed emotions about it. I am sad to leave a great club but I’m excited for the challenges I have ahead. I am so proud of what we have built together and I have enjoyed working with everyone.”

At 24, Hastings has his best years ahead and has already sampled the Premiership after spending three years at Bath from 2014 before signing for Glasgow. “Adam is a good signing,” Skivington said. “He is young and hungry and is stepping out of his comfort zone. I think we will take him far.”

Skivington said the discussions with Cipriani did not involve the arrival of Hastings and who would be the first-choice fly-half next season. At a time when rugby stands accused of being grey and uninspiring, Gloucester have lost one of the few artists who paint in vivid colours.