Glaws give fans a Christmas bonus
Burns - top game
By Cherry Picker
December 27 2011
Where did that suddenly come from? After weeks of inconsistency, worries over the immediate and long-term future and questions posed after every game, Gloucester suddenly hit form at Kingsholm and produced a six-try Boxing Day demolition of Wasps.
Admittedly, the visitors are hardly tearing the Premiership apart this season, but neither are Glaws, so they and the fans have every right to regard this 39-10 win as a major achievement.
With a bonus point included, it was only their second win in five Premiership games ... no wonder coach Bryan Redpath was pleased.
He told the BBC: “We haven't played like that all season, but there was the right link between backs and forwards with energy and tempo to our game.
"People will always talk about the try scorers, but we should remember the work of the pack, which was second to none.
"The Gloucester people were outstanding, to come and fill Kingsholm on Boxing Day and sing and shout, we needed that.”
Against a side including Nicky Robinson at fly-half, Redpath was delighted to see his No.10 replacement Freddie Burns doing so well.
“Freddie was good today,” he said. “In the past it’s been tough for him, but he kept his cool and did a lot of things well today.”
Now he’s hoping that his squad can carry on where they left off, though it won’t be easy with three away games kicking off the New Year ... Saracens and Worcester in the Premiership and Harlequins in the Heineken Cup in the first fortnight of January.
He added: “Our ambition was good and we are delighted with the way the boys have stuck at it over the last couple of months.
“Going to Saracens next weekend is the start of a tough away run for us, and this performance couldn’t have been better timed.”
Luke Narraway and Jonny May scored converted tries before Elliot Daly hit back, only for May to cross for his second and it was 19-10 at half-time after Robinson’s conversion and a penalty.
But in a dominant second half performance, tries by Henry Trinder and two from Olly Morgan made it a Boxing Day to remember for the sell-out crowd.