Glaws get reward for poor show at Wuss

They say that if you can play badly and still get something from a game, you are doing well. If that is true, Gloucester have every right to feel some satisfaction after their 16-all draw at Worcester.

But let’s face it … it wasn’t exactly a cracker, was it? Even fans forced to watch the game in the unsatisfactory surroundings of a pub saw enough to agree with that.

In fact, the game was one of a handful of boring Premiership matches over the weekend and Glaws would do right to forget it quickly and bank the lessons they can learn from it.

With Billy Twelvetrees standing in for Freddie Burns at fly-half, Glaws at times looked good enough to win it. But at other times they didn’t and it needed a last-gasp penalty from Burns to earn the draw after he replaced Mike Tindall.

Twelvetrees kicked two first-half pens for a 6-3 lead at the break and when Henry Trinder went over midway through the second half, it all looked rosy.

But prop sub James Currie scored a Wuss try and Andy Goode kicked what looked like the winning pen before Burns stepped up to save the game.

“It wasn't the greatest game of rugby that has ever been played, but from our perspective it was really important we came here and got something out of the game,” Glaws coach Nigel Davies said.

"There is a lot more to come from us. I wouldn't like to think we will play that badly again, but we've come here, got two points and it keeps things ticking over.

"A draw was probably a fair result, but I was happy with our resilience and never-say-die attitude and I was also pleased with how we kept our composure in the last play of the game.

"We are finding our feet as a team, with new patterns and new systems, but we under-performed today and we know that."

Untidy at times, Glaws are still knitting together… but knitting together they are, and only a pessimist would fail to be uplifted by the prospect of it all coming together.

Let’s hope it’s soon … next weekend at home to Wasps would be good.