Questions as Glaws face up to new season

The new Premiership season is at last only days away, but there's a big question mark over Gloucester's final preparations for their opener at Northampton next Sunday - have they done enough? 

There are many reasons to avoid dodgy pre-season games which can cause havoc to the squad before the real thing even starts, but have matches against London Welsh and Russia done enough to prepare Glaws for 2-11-12?

Yes, they got a kick up the backside by losing to Welsh, but that result was as much to do with rust as lack of effort and application, but the 47-7 win over Russia was hardly more than a training run-out.

There’s no doubt Glaws have worked hard in pre-season training, and it’s just as true that a line has to be drawn on taking risks in friendly games that are too testing or too physical.

But there’s no substitute for the real thing, and that’s why the home countries have been engaged in such testing games before going to the World Cup in New Zealand.

Yet there was still an injury problem for Glaws as Lesley Vainikolo, who played at inside centre and scored the last of his team’s seven tries before going off injured.

The game was also a “reward” for James Simpson-Daniel’s ten-year Gloucester career, though why highly-paid sportsmen still need to be even more highly laid just because they have done what most working folk do by staying with an employer for a decade is a further question for debate.

There were some pluses on a rain-soaked night, most notably the form of Jonny May, who scored two tries from outside centre. But otherwise the evening left many with far more questions than answers as we approach the big kick-off.

As if World Cup absences weren’t going to pose enough problem for Bryan Redpath, the coach has also had to suffer far too many worrying injuries. The pre-season campaign hasn’t gone smoothly – but then, that’s life.

One final question – how much damage did the game do to the Kingsholm pitch before a ball has been passed in anger? The persistent rain saw it cut up badly in places and the ground staff will be busy doing repairs this week.