AKAPUSI Qera has no intention of leaving Gloucester for France this summer.
The bemused Fijian has 'put his foot down' on rumours he will break his Kingsholm contract, that runs until 2014.
Pledging to see out his current Cherry and Whites deal at least, Qera said he could even stay at Gloucester beyond next season.
Destructive back-rower Qera rejected a move to France when he signed his current Gloucester deal in January 2010.
At the time the Suva-born loose-forward hailed the unique Kingsholm atmosphere and revealed how his family have set up a happy home in Gloucester since his 2007 arrival.
A season into his latest two-year deal, the former Birmingham and Solihull marauder said nothing has changed.
The 28-year-old flanker, known as Q, said: "I'm really surprised about that, because I don't know anything about that at all.
"I'm sticking with my word from the start, that I will stay with Gloucester, and then see how it goes.
"I'm settled and enjoying myself, and I just need to be focusing on my rugby rather than focusing on rumours flying around.
"Right now I'm putting my foot down on Gloucester and that's it, I've got nothing else apart from that."
Fears about Qera's future could have stemmed from Gloucester's impressive capture of highly-prized Worcester openside Matt Kvesic.
But Qera's abilities to operate across the back-row and not just at seven allow Gloucester to accommodate all their loose-forward talent, without a surplus at openside.
Nigel Davies jumped at the chance to bring 20-year-old Gloucester fan Kvesic to Kingsholm for next season.
The Citizen understands Cherry and Whites bosses had initially expected Kvesic to sign a new deal at Worcester, potentially for one season, to continue his development.
But once it became clear he would leave Sixways this summer Gloucester made sure Wasps, Leicester and Saracens did not beat them to the punch.
Even if Kvesic's summer arrival will be one year earlier than anticipated, Gloucester hope he will forge a long-lasting Kingsholm career.
Qera's focus is clear – to overcome Sale at Salford City Stadium tomorrow night (kick-off 7.45pm) and keep Gloucester's Premiership play-off ambitions alive.
Not even a confrontation with former boss Bryan Redpath has been up for discussion at Kingsholm this week.
Redpath's messy summer switch from Gloucester to Sale contributed to the Cherry and Whites' downward spiral at the end of last term.
New boss Davies has changed all that, and Qera said it is time for Gloucester to complete their top-four task.
He continued: "All that is being discussed around the club this week is the aim for a win, nothing more, nothing less.
"The atmosphere has changed as a whole this season, things are going pretty well – but we definitely need the result this week.
"It's a milestone for us compared to last season, when we were struggling to get into the top six.
"But now we are not just fighting for the top six, we are also battling to get into the top four.
"It's big for us as players, to try to get something back in our time at the club."
Lamenting Gloucester's 41-31 Amlin Challenge Cup exit at the hands of Biarritz last week, Qera said the Cherry and Whites must prove that defeat a blip in the North West tomorrow.
He added: "It was a bit frustrating because we knew we had the game in our own hands then lost control through a few set-pieces, silly penalties and the two yellow cards.
"A few dropped balls created turnovers and they scored off the back of that. That's not Gloucester as a whole for our season.
"But we'll pick our heads up again and look forward to tomorrow.
"This game is vital for us to kick on and push for the top four.
"We've got to bat off the result from last Thursday too.
"We need to restore the fighting spirit and move on from there.
"It was all mental, where we didn't play against Biarritz.
"Yes we put our heads up against Harlequins, and we thought that would get us through against Biarritz, but they are a different team altogether.
"It's good that we've learned from it, though, and we'll move on from there.
"We just need to lift up our performance from last Thursday and get back to our normal game and what Gloucester's known for."
