Expansive Gloucester come good
Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:56
Good result: Gloucester players in defence
A dominating first half performance from Gloucester set up a comfortable 39-10 win at Kingsholm on Friday night to send them, temporarily at least, to second place on the Guinness Premiership table.
The home side scored three unanwsered tries in first forty minutes to set themselves up for an important five point haul in the seventh round of the Guinness Premiership.
Having started well Gloucester showed clear intent with their powerful midfield pair of Anthony Allen and Mike Tindall never shy of testing out the Bristol defensive line. The early pressure set up an easily kickable penalty for Gloucester after just four minutes. Ryan Lamb duly delivered and Dean Ryan’s men were on their way.
Bristol responded immediately with an attack of their own and, after an Ed Barnes break they were able to force a penalty of their own inside the opposition 22. Adrian Jarvis easily levelled the scores.
With just nine minutes gone Gloucester burst into life. An initial break from Dave Lewis, from inside his own half, sparked the attack but when the ball was spread out wide to the left it found Olly Morgan and the fullback never looked back. Breaking through two tackles with a great step the Bristol defence was unable to catch him in time to stop him going over. Conversion successful the score was 10-3 to the home side.
The game seemed to settle in to a high tempo, with both sides looking to be creative. It was though the home side who then scored the big break. A cleverly worked lineout move released Lewis at the front and the lightning quick scrumhalf almost went all the way. Thinking he was going to be caught the No. 9 stepped back inside to feed Peter Buxton just eight metres from the line.
The powerful flank crashed over with three Bristol players hanging on him and Gloucester had a strong lead just 17 minutes into the game.
As the game just edged past the half hour mark Gloucester increased their advantage with another Buxton try. With their backline looking dangerous every time they got space the gaps were opening up in the Bristol line. Morgan again, this time with the support of Watkins, made the initial break and the resulting quick ball from the breakdown found its way out wide to Buxton who was able to dot down almost unopposed.
Trailing 25-3 at the break Richard Hill decided to send, last weekend's hero, Shaun Perry on from the start of the second half.
The England international certainly made an impression and, along with Lee Robinson, helped Bristol show some promise in the second forty minutes. Dominating the opening exchanges of the second half Bristol desperately needed a score early in the second half to put some pressure on Gloucester but unfortunately for them it just wouldn't come.
Along with the two replacements, loose forwards Alfie To’pala and Dan Ward-Smith both enjoyed strong second halves while
exciting wing David Lemi grabbed a consolation try thanks to his unbelieveable acceleration - leaving England wing Ian Balshaw in his wake on his way to the line.
The game itself continued at a furious pace with end-to-end action in the early parts of the second forty.
17 minutes into the second half Gloucester finally wrapped up their bonus point. Having survived the temporary Bristol onslaught they set a few phases together themselves and lock Alex Brown was on hand to score the try.
A good angle from Luke Narraway allowed him to reach through his tackle and pop the off-load to a storming Brown just five metres out from the Britol line. Lambs’s third successful conversion made it 32-3.
Ryan Lamb added the fifth try for his side just after the hour mark. Seizing on a long pass from Adrian Jarvis, Lamb swooped in to make the interception and sprint the 50 metres to the line to compound coach Hill’s troubles.
With just over ten minutes left in the game Bristol got their consolation try from Lemi after good work from both Robinson and then Perry.
Gloucester substitute Lesley Vainikolo, who had also been a half time replacement, left the match early after receiving a yellow card on 74 minutes as Brstol launched their final attack. While they probably deserved more for their attacking efforts in the second half Bristol will know the game was well and truly buried before they started to enjoy the lions share of possession.
Some encouraging signs but ultimately a poor defeat for the Premiership struggles.
Gloucester lock Alex Brown was named as the official man of the match but both Ryan Lamb and Apolosi Satala would also have been worthy winners on the night.
The Scorers:
For Gloucester
Tries: Morgan, Buxton 2, Brown, Lamb
Con: Lamb 4
Pens: Lamb
Drop: Lamb
For Bristol
Tries: Lemi
Con: Jarvis
Pens: Jarvis
Teams:
Gloucester Rugby: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Iain Balshaw, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Matthew Watkins, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Apolosi Satala, 6 Peter Buxton, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Will James, 3 Jack Forster, 2 Olivier Azam, 1 Nick Wood
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Dave Young, 18 Adam Eustace, 19 Andy Titterrell, 20 Jordi Pasqualin, 21 Olly Barkley, 22 Lesley Vainikolo
Bristol Rugby: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Neil Brew, 12 Ed Barnes, 11 David Lemi, 10 Adrian Jarvis, 9 Graeme Beveridge, 8 Dan Ward-Smith,
7 Joe El Abd, 6 Alfie To'oala Vaeluaga, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Roy Winters, 3 Darren Crompton, 2 Mark Regan, 1 Alex Clarke
Replacements: 16 Scott Linklater, 17 Peter Bracken, 18 Mariano Sambucetti, 19 Iain Grieve, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Luke Eves, 22 Lee Robinson
