Gloucester Rugby 33-26 Harlequins
By AlanQuin
October 24 2010
The power of the Gloucester pack and the lack of a television match official to whom to refer left Harlequins frustrated and with only a losing bonus point to show from a 33 – 26 defeat at Kingsholm.
The opening minutes were disjointed by unforced errors on both sides. After five minutes a penalty for offside on the Quins’ twenty-two allowed Robinson to open the scoring with a simple kick. A good break down the wing by Tom William showed intent, but an unforced error ended the attack. Gloucester was awarded the first of many penalties at scrums and the problems that were to dog Quins throughout the match became apparent.
Then the ball ran loose at a ruck on the Quins’ ten metre line. Danny Care swooped, pinned his ears back and with no real chasers, except a forlorn Mike Tindall, scampered in for a 60 metre try that Nick Evans converted. Gloucester’s response was rapid as they piled on pressure and a knock-on gave them a five metre scrum.
Now the power of the Gloucester pack became apparent. A penalty at the scrum prompted another scrum and Quins were clearly in trouble. A penalty try was a distinct possibility. But as the scrum wheeled, Dave Lewis, the Gloucester scrum-half, broke from the base of the scrum to cross for a try. Robinson added the conversion and regained the lead although a penalty from Evans a couple of minutes later levelled the scores again at 10 – 10.
Two more successful penalties from Robinson began to open a lead and then a fine flowing attack created an overlap for Sharples to score Gloucester’s second try. Robinson added the extra points. Another penalty, kicked by Nick Evans at the end of the half, left Quins trailing at the interval by ten points, 23 – 13.
Barely three minutes into the second half, another penalty allowed Robinson to extend the lead still further. Then Doran-Jones decided that Joe Marler needed to be punched and was shown a yellow card for his trouble and allowed ten minutes to contemplate his stupidity. Evans found a good touch from the penalty and when the ball came to him from the lineout used his amazing acceleration and pace to go through the Gloucester defence to score a try which he then converted.
Gloucester’s lack of discipline was further exercised when Wood took Easter out in mid-air at a lineout and he too was shown a yellow card just as the earlier sinner was about to return. Evans duly took another three points. A further penalty, surprisingly at a scrum, allowed Evans to draw the scores level at 26 – 26.
But now, with thirteen minutes remaining, Gloucester was back to full strength and in attack mode. An excellent chip ahead from Trinder forced Care to kick into touch in goal to clear the danger and gave Gloucester a five metre scrum. Their pack drove forward and wheeled sufficiently for Deacon to pick up the ball and cross for the try which Robinson converted.
Three minutes remained and Harlequins threw everything they had into the fray. As time ran out they were across the Gloucester try line and to many it appeared that they had scored. But there were no cameras today and the referee was unsure and the match ended in a win for Gloucester 33 – 26.
After the match Conor O’Shea was adamant in believing that the final push had been a try. “Chris Robshaw scored – he was pushed over by George Robson. Their full-back will confirm it.” he said, “But such is life. You could see the incredulity on the players’ faces. This season is going to be the tightest Premiership for a long time and every point is going to count. We talk about the controlables. We can’t control the referee, the crowd or the fact that there was no television match official.
“We didn’t play in the first half. Our set piece was poor. But credit to the guys, they fought their way back. We dug in and got ourselves back into a position to win the game.”
Gloucester: Morgan, Sharples, Tindall, Trinder, Simpson-Daniel, Robinson, Lewis, Wood, S. Lawson, Doran-Jones, Attwood, Brown, Strokosch, Narraway, Deacon, Buxton.
Replacements: Pasqualin for Lewis (55), Cox for Wood (71), Azam for S. Lawson (68), Buxton for Strokosch (48), Dickinson for Buxton (65).
Not Used: Capdevielle, Burns, Vainikolo.
Sin Bin: Doran-Jones (50), Wood (59).
Harlequins: Brown, Williams, Lowe, Turner-Hall, Camacho, Evans, Care, Marler, Brooker, Andress, Vallejos Cinalli, Robson, Robshaw, Skinner, Easter.
Replacements: O. Smith for Williams (55), Gray for Brooker (54), Lambert for Andress (49), Guest for Vallejos Cinalli (51).
Not Used: Jones, Browne, Dickson, Clegg.
Attendance: 11,919
Referee: Tim Wrigglesworth (RFU).
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Sounds like we were quite unlucky at the end
