Glaws aim to end the year on a high

The first half of 2012 might not have given Gloucester fans much to shout about, but the second half has been a whole lot better and everybody with a Kingsholm connection can hopefully head towards 2013 full of optimism.

But there are a couple of pressing Premiership matters to attend to before that – at home to Exeter next weekend, and at Leicester on the last weekend of the year.

They are two tough fixtures that will surely fully extend a Gloucester side full of confidence after virtually ensuring a place in the Amlin Cup quarter-final with the latest demolition of London Irish.

Shane Monahan’s match-changing four tries set up the 47-3 win, but after a stuttering start kicked into life by the Irish winger’s first two tries, there was a lot more to admire in the Glaws performance.

But coach Nigel Davies is still determined to ensure nobody gets carried away.

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He’s happy with the progress made so far, but keen to keep all feet on the ground.

"Yes things are going fairly well, but those things can be taken away from you very quickly indeed,” he told the Citizen.

"We've got some huge games over the festive period, we're looking forward to them and we've got to make sure we don't drop back.

"It's a huge game against Exeter, they're a good team.

"The key thing as far as Europe goes is we've got to target not just a quarter-final spot, but a home quarter-final spot. It would be a huge occasion and it would be great if we could do that.

"We've still got a couple of games to make sure we do that.”

But the sentence that will perhaps give Glaws fans the biggest lift comes when Davies adds: “We haven't seen the best of us yet that's for sure, there's a long way to go with this side.”

If he really believes that, then 2013 could be even better than the second half of 2012 has been.

As Davies says, the Exeter game is a big one, but so if the trip to Leicester … how a team fares at Welford Road is often a barometer of how well they can expect to do over a season.

It’s arguably the toughest game of the season, and if Glaws can travel buoyed up by a win over the improving Exeter, who is to say they can’t finish the year with a bang?