Glaws respond to coach's demand for better away form
Nicky R - off early
By Cherry Picker
August 21 2010
So far, so good for Gloucester after a deserved and at times impressive 24-14 pre-season win against Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. The losers will always say pre-season form means little, while the winners will always hope that good form continues when the real thing starts, and of course it's no different for these sides after this game.
Glaws scored three tries to Ospreys' two on a wet afternoon, and what is far more important, they looked the better team for long spells of the game, scoring well and defending well when necessary.
Nicky Robinson's clever kick gave Henry Trinder the chance to score the opening try, Robinson converting before adding a penalty for a 10-0 lead.
Under pressure as Ospreys battled to come back, Glaws produced the perfect response - another try, Luke Narraway finishing a six-man move that carved the home team wide open, Robinson again converting before being replaced by Tim Taylor.
Ospreys hit back with a Jamie Nutbrown try converted by Dai Flanagan, but before half-time Matt Cox scored his first Glaws try and Taylor converted for a 24-7 half-time lead.
Dan Biggar scored a try he converted himself to make it 24-14 in the second half, but that was the end of the scoring as Ospreys sent on some of their big names but couldn't batter their way through a good Glaws defence.
It was a good run-out and a good performance for Glaws, just what they needed to produce in response to coach Bryan Redpath setting a minimum target of a top four place in the new season.
He is determined to guide the team to better away results when the real thing start, and this wasn't a bad way to point them in the right direction.
