Sinbad inspires great Glaws victory

The last thing Gloucester want is to become a one-man team, relying too heavily on an individual to fire them out of the inconsistent trough they have descended into in the last few weeks. But James Simpson-Daniel went as close as he dared to that as he inspired a 37-23 Kingsholm win over Exeter.

Wobbling after disappointing performances against La Rochelle and Leeds, Glaws needed to respond to coach Bryan Redpath’s angry demand for improvement – and JSD saw to it that they did.
He scored one try himself and made two others in a five-try bonus point victory that took the team back into the top half of the table before a month-long break from Premiership rugby.
It was a team effort that blew the Chiefs away, their score flattered by a late burst long after the game had been won and lost. Simpson-Daniel took the honours, but the rest played their part.
So did Exeter though - they are feeling their way in the top flight, but doing so with great credit and the team and their fans have made a far better impression than one or two other newly-promoted teams have in the past.
Redpath was quick to praise Sinbad’s contribution and he told the BBC: “James Simpson-Daniel was outstanding. He needs to keep working hard and getting on the ball.
"He needs to demand the ball more and be in positions to create opportunities. He's a dangerous runner, and he must be assertive enough to go and demand the ball.
"Reputation is one thing, performance is another. Today, James's performance - and in the last couple of weeks - is getting there in terms of consistency. He finished off well today, and he worked hard for the team."
The team worked hard for each other, too, and that’s why Exeter’s inexperienced but keen side never got a sniff, flattered though they were by their three tries.
JSD’s break send Rory Lawson over for the opening try and minutes later he did it again after Mike Tindall’s quick tap under his own post, this time sending Olly Morgan over.
Simpson-Daniel danced his way over for the third soon after half-time before Tom Johnson narrowed the gap only for Charlie Sharples to muscle his way over for the bonus point try.
Sireli Naqelevuki again replied for the Chiefs, but sub Akapusi Qera quelled any home nerves before Naqelevuki scored Exeter’s third.
They didn’t merit such a close scoreline, and admitted as much after the game, but what matters is that Glaws won comfortably at last and can go into two Amlin and two LV= games with more confidence than they had before this match.
As long as they don’t make the mistake of expecting JSD to put on match-winning performances like this every game.