Glaws season ending in tears

A season that started with the usual high hopes and produced little more than a see-saw string of inconsistent results and performances is ending like so many things do ... in tears.

A 24-19 defeat at the hands of Sale in the last home game of the season means Glaws won’t be playing in the Heineken Cup next season. But at least they'll be in the Prem - and a team which beat the cherry and whites this month won't be.

In short, it’s been a frustrating season and things can only get better.

But before we even start to think about next season, there’s the small matter of sorting out the full truth behind Bryan Redpath’s departure from Kingsholm.

There are theories galore on why he went, Glaw say they’ll sue if it turns out Sale approached him before he left, and the Sharks say there has been no contact with him, though they have spoken to his agent since he quit the Glaws job.

The whole picture is muddied by the wide range of theories on whether Redpath was ever going to make a success of the job.

Meanwhile, Sale’s win means that whoever takes charge there is likely to be watching his team play in the Heineken Cup next season.

A first-half try by Charlie Sharples and 14 points from Freddie Burns kept Glaws in the game, but Ron Miller scored two Sale tries and Nick McLeod matched Burns’s 14 points with his own boot.

It was close and it wasn’t a bad game, but Glaws came up short again and coach Carl Hogg admitted to the BBC: "This week has been emotional for many of the players. It was a special occasion with a lot of players playing their last games at Kingsholm - Scott Lawson, Alasdair Strokosch, Mike Tindall, Tom Voyce - so there was no lack of endeavour. We just lacked precision.

"We gave away two soft tries and we also didn't manage the wind in the second half and ultimately that was our downfall.

"Today was pretty much a showdown for Heineken Cup qualification and that is also disappointing with the group of players we have coming in next season. We have another game left, though, and we have to look forward."

That game is at London Irish on Saturday May 5, when no matter how bad Gloucester’s season has been, they can feel relieved not to be involved in the Wasps v Newcastle game that will decide which of the pair is relegated – and Glaws lost to both of them in April.