This was a competitive, exciting, but sometimes scrappy game. A typical early season match with a number of errors. Gloucester earned four points for the win whilst Quins earned a bonus point for being within a converted score of Gloucester.

Mark Evans, Harlequins Head Coach was sanguine. “It was a close game and could have gone either way. The momentum was going our way but we dropped off too many tackles. It was a pretty good premiership game in what is going to be a very tight competition.”

Gloucester had been billed all week as the Zurich Premiership pretenders to Leicester with the strongest scrum and an exciting back line. “ Overall I was pleased with our lineout and pleased with the way we scrummaged. We were able to play set plays off our scrum which we weren’t able to do against Gloucester last year. Our shape was more solid. I think we are a more competitive side than last year. I thought Tiatia had a wonderful game, Codling was good while he was on (he had to come off due to the re-occurence of a hamstring injury) and Diprose played well.”

I asked Mark Evans whether the team had kicked the ball away too much. “What is it that’s wrong with kicking the ball? I don’t think we kicked the ball away enough in the second quarter. We were playing the ball in our own twenty two when we should have kicked it to row Z. That led to their second try.”

Turning to the opposition Evans said “Gloucester were good with the ball in hand. Hazel and Boer were good with the ball in the tackle in the first half and they had lots of options in the backs. Gloucester have improved their team since last season.”

Nigel Melville, Gloucester’s Head Coach, was impressed with the progress Quins had made over last season. “They are a spirited side who have improved from last season.” He was disappointed with his own team’s performance. “We made too many errors and turned over too much ball, but it’s August and we have not always played well away from home. I thought Junior (Paramore) was outstanding, Henry Paul played well but he was pinned back by Quins’ kicking.”

Dean Ryan, Gloucester’s Forwards coach was also disappointed by the performance. “The Gloucester basics were poor today. We struggled in the line out where the Quins defence was excellent.”

The opening seven minutes of the match saw a great deal of Gloucester pressure. A James Simpson-Daniel break led to a ruck at which Quins were penalised for coming in at the side.

Gloucester kicked the penalty to touch five metres from the Quins line. Olivier Azam threw poorly into the line out and Quins were able to clear their lines. From the resulting line out Gloucester won the ball and Andy Gomarsall was able to kick the ball into the corner. Alex Codling made a great take from the line out and Quins once again managed to clear their lines.

Codling Collects ©kwin

A few minutes later Gloucester were awarded a penalty but missed touch. Paul Burke kicked the ball into the Gloucester twenty two. The Gloucester throw in was judged to be not straight by referee Steve Lander and Quins were awarded a scrum. Quins ran a Paul Turner trademark set move. Matt Powell looped the ball round Fly Half Paul Burke and sent a pop pass into the gap for Matt Moore to score easily under the posts. The try was converted by Paul Burke and after ten minutes, the score was 7 – 0 to Quins.

A period of scrappy play ensued with both sides trading kicks. Rucks and mauls became more aggressive and the Quins crowd vented some anger at referee Steve Lander for missing a Junior Paramore punch. In the 18th minute, Gloucester second row Mark Cornwall was given the yellow card for aggressive use of the boot and Paul Burke slotted home the resulting penalty to increase Quins lead to ten points.

Two minutes later and Quins were awarded another penalty after Gloucester were penalised for hands in the ruck. Paul Burke’s penalty hit the upright from an eminently kickable position. Despite being down to fourteen men Gloucester produced a period of intense pressure as they sought to claw back Quins lead. An Olivier Azam break was only thwarted by Will Greenwood’s last ditch tackle which spilled the ball out of Azam’s hands. In the 27th minute Pat Sanderson was penalised for entering a ruck at the wrong side and Henry Paul kicked the penalty from the Quins ten metre line. Quins lead was reduced to 10 – 3.

A minute later and Gloucester were back to fifteen men following the return of Mark Cornwall. Quins had not managed to extend their lead in his absence.

In the 31st minute Gloucester won a line out and after a scrappy bit of play the ball found itself to their new wing Marcel Garvey who jinked through three or four missed tackles to score under the posts. Henry Paul converted the try to level the match at 10 points apiece. The next few minutes were characterised by mistakes from both sides, both defences were tightly packed and the midfield lacked space. In the 38th minute Gloucester turned over Quins ball and the ball came to Gloucester centre Terry Fanolua who kicked the ball through to the Quins twenty two where Ben Gollings had to carry the ball into touch on the Quins five metre line. Gloucester won the resulting line out and rolled a maul over the Quins line. Referee Lander awarded a try which was credited to Junior Paramore. Henry Paul missed the conversion. Gloucester now held the lead for the first time in the match just before half time.

In the 42nd minute Referee Lander mysteriously awarded Gloucester another penalty just outside the Quins twenty two. Mr Lander explained the reason for the penalty to Quins captain Jason Leonard who looked as bemused as the crowd. The penalty was kicked by Henry Paul. Gloucester led 18-10 at half time.

Lander decides ©kwin

At the start of the second half both teams tried to run the ball. In the 2nd minute of the second half Gloucester were in possession but lost the ball and Ben Gollings kicked on. Gloucester managed to pick up the ball from the chase but infringed at the resulting ruck. Quins were awarded a penalty which was kicked by Paul Burke. Gloucester’s lead was reduced to five points. In the 48th minute Gloucester appeared to make a defensive move by substituting Marcel Garvey for Ludovic Mercier. Henry Paul moved to Full Back, Thinus Delport went to the wing and Ludovic Mercier moved to Fly Half. After the match Nigel Melville explained the change by saying that that Gloucester were being pinned back by Quins kicking from hand and felt that Mercier would be better equipped to counter this.

In the 51st minute Gloucester came close to scoring following an Andy Gomarsall break. A ruck formed two metres from the Quins line. Quins managed to steal the ball and cleared their line. There then followed a number of substitutions. In the 57th minute, Alex Codling’s hamstring injury forced him off and he was replaced by Jim Evans. In the 60th minute Scott Bemand came on for Matthew Powell who had a good game and Gloucester’s Andy Hazell was replaced by James Forrester. During this time Ace Tiatia was becoming more influential through some bullocking runs round the fringes.

Powell gets it away as Wood looks on. ©kwin

In the 66th minute a Chris Bell break saw Matt Moore halted three metres from the Gloucester line. Gloucester won the ball back but their kick did not find touch. The ball was given to Keith Wood who ran at the Gloucester defence. They infringed and Paul Burke converted the penalty from the Gloucester twenty two. Quins were now 16-18 down.

A stunning break by Ben Gollings saw him kick the ball into the Gloucester twenty two. He outsprinted the Gloucester cover and appeared to have a chance to score but the ball bounced sideways and back into touch from his kick.

In the 74th minute Quins were awarded a scrum in the middle of their own half. The Quins backs all aligned to the right apart from Ben Gollings who was alone on the left. Bemand sent the ball to the left and Gollings was left one on one with Delport. He tried to take him on the outside but was half caught. Ace Tiatia had come round the outside of Gollings and the ball was offloaded to him. He sprinted along the touchline but was caught by the cover. Quins won the ruck ball and it came along the line to Will Greenwood. He appeared to take the wrong option by running straight at the Gloucester defence when he had men outside but Quins won the ruck and passed the ball to Paul Burke who kicked a drop goal. Quins were back in the lead 19–18.

In the 78th minute Quins lost a line out on their own throw and after a sustained period of Gloucester pressure the ball found its way to the Gloucester prop Trevor Woodman who broke two tackles from Laurent Gomez and Scott Bemand to score under the posts. Henry Paul converted the try. Gloucester were back in the lead 19-25

Quins had one final attack on the Gloucester line and took a tap penalty inside the Gloucester twenty two. The attack was halted two metres out and cleared by Gloucester. The final whistle was blown.

The last word goes to Quins coach Mark Evans. “The match could have gone either way. Ben Gollings had an unlucky bounce of the ball, Burkey doesn’t miss many of those penalties in a season and we lost a crucial line out on our own throw when the line out had been strong all day. Last year we were lucky to be beaten by only 40 odd points at Kingsholm. I think we have made progress since then.”

Teams:

NEC Harlequins:

15. N Williams 14. M Moore 13. W Greenwood 12. C Bell 11. B Gollings 10. P Burke 9. M Powell (S Bemand 60 mins) 8. T Diprose 7. P Sanderson 6. A Tiatia 5. A Codling (J Evans 57 mins) 4. B Davison 3. L Gomez 2. K Wood 1. J Leonard (Capt.)

Gloucester

15. T Delport 14. M Garvey (L. Mercier 48 mins) 13. T Fanolua 12. R Todd 11. J Simpson-Daniel 10. H. Paul 9. A Gomarsall 8. J. Paramore 7. A Hazell (J. Forrester 61 mins) 6. J Boer 5. M Cornwall 4. E Pearce (R. Fidler 72 mins) 3. P. Vickery (Capt.) 2. O. Azam (C. Fortey 66 mins) 1. T. Woodman

 

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