Nicky R - winner

By Cherry Picker
September 12 2010

Coach Bryan Redpath's faith in Nicky Robinson was repaid by the fly-half when he kicked a late penalty to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against Leeds at Kingsholm, and while Gloucester's first reaction was one of relief, they should spare some time to look at where they might be if the Welshman hadn't been successful.

The first-day defeat at newly-promoted Exeter was bad enough, but throwing away a match-winning lead at home to yo-yo club Leeds in front of a disappointing - and disappointed - Kingsholm crowd threatened to set the alarm bells ringing loudly.
With Newcastle Falcons beating Wasps the night before to shake all those who predicted they had pre-booked the Premiership bottom rung for the season, Gloucester's single-point victory might just turn out to be priceless.
Like the crowd, Redpath was more relieved than impressed and he told the BBC: "The manner of the win was disappointing. After the first 40 minutes there were too many handling errors again. It's a team game and there are too many individuals at the moment.
"I'm chuffed that we got a win but our ball retention, patience and game management is very poor.
"Mike Tindall has come into the changing rooms and said what he needed to say, which was important from my point of view, because when we stick to basics we create problems."
With five changes, Glaws certainly stuck to basics early on and were rewarded by tries from Luke Narraway, Alasdair Dickinson and Eliota Fuimaon-Sapolu, two of them converted by Robinson.
But Christian Lewis-Pratt had scored two Leeds penalties and his try just before Gloucester's third kept the gap narrow, allowing another Leeds penalty and Luther Burrell's converted try to earn the visitors the lead.
It had been suggested that Robinson should have been relieved of kicking duties after he missed a bagful of kicks at Exeter, but he slotted the winner to silence the critics.
However, the result does nothing to quell early-season fears and Redpath is right when he points out the number of mistakes Glaws are making.
Their first two games of the season should have been won and would have been won with two 80-minuite team performances.
But a defeat and a single-point win indicate that at the moment Redpath is not dealing with a team, but with a bunch of individuals.
With Newcastle, Exeter and Leeds already suggesting they might just be better than everybody expected, Glaws needs to become a team quickly, otherwise London Irish next weekend look a daunting prospect.

Match-winner Robinson repays Redpath faith

Discussion started by Shedloads (IP Logged), 12/09/2010 12:40

Shedloads
12/09/2010 12:40

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