Glaws must settle for mid-table mediocrity

Most people associated with Gloucester felt last season’s sixth place in the Guinness Premiership wasn’t good enough, but at least it earned a place in the Heineken Cup. This season, on the other hand, sixth looks way beyond our grasp with just two games left and it looks as if we’ll have to settle for mid-table mediocrity.

There was a danger in mid-season that Glaws might even go down, so at least the spectre of that disaster has been seen off, and we have the consolation of knowing that this has been a season of transition at Kingsholm.
The trick is to ensure that any progress made during 2009-10 is continued next season.

Saturday’s 38-23 defeat at Northampton underlined what makes the difference between success and mere survival in the modern game.

Northampton were more incisive and took their chances when they arrived, while Glaws continued to make the sort of errors which have blighted their season.

In many sports, the winners are often the ones who make the least mistakes, and coach Bryan Redpath is desperately need to iron out this problem in the Glaws squad.

He told the BBC: "We feel unlucky to leave Northampton with nothing, although our ball retention was occasionally poor. More importantly, we need to adapt better to referees.

"You need to take the rough with the smooth in this business, but I can't help feeling there's been a lot of rough for me this season. We worked so hard all week and the boys in the dressing room are gutted.

"But as you develop, so you learn. We played some very good football and we created some good opportunities. I think the difference was Northampton took their chances better than we did."

That about sums it up, Chris Ashton’s hat trick of tries sending Glaws home beaten and sending Saints to the top of the table.

It was 16-10 at half-time, a try from Charlie Sharples and Nicky Robinson’s kicking keeping Glaws in touch, and while Dave Attwood scored a second Glaws try after the break, Saints always kept the lead in the face of dogged and at times dangerous Glaws resistance.

It wasn’t a hammering and it wasn’t a humiliation – more a reminder that while Glaws have improved since those dark days of the first half of the season, they haven’t improved enough yet to do what Northampton have done.