Luke N - determined

By Cherry Picker
March 23 2011

Having achieved a breakthrough by winning the LV= Cup last weekend, Gloucester can’t afford to relax … they need to go looking for another breakthrough, this time in the Premiership, where their great run in the second half of the season has given them the chance of success there, too.

After the bad news this week that Mike Tindall (right) will miss the rest of the season through injury, Glaws need to rise above that blow and show that all their hard work in the second half of the season will not be allowed to go to waste.

They managed to put the disappointment of losing two Anglo-Welsh finals behind them as they strolled past Newcastle Falcons last Sunday, and they have a few Premiership disappointments to consign to ancient history, too.

In a strong third place, Glaws are six points ahead of fourth top Northampton and though they are six behind second top Saracen and eight behind leaders Leicester, they have two games in hand on each of those two.

Let’s face it, finishing top is by no means out of the question, and Saturday’s visit to mid-table Harlequins will go a long way towards telling us whether the cherry and whites have the class and strength to do it.

The problem is, of course, that finishing top is only part of the story … the top four then have the play-offs to contend with, the money-spinning scam designed to rob the league winners of the glory and give three runners-up to beat them on a one-off basis.

There are pros and cons on both sides of this long-running argument, of course, but even football tends to concede that if you finish top of the table after a gruelling season, you have every right to consider yourself champions.

In rugby that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Luke Narraway has already stated the obvious by saying that Glaws can’t afford to relax after their LV= triumph.

He told the Citizen: There's seven more Premiership games and we're desperate to win each and every one.

"I've been at the club a long time now, and before Sunday I'd only been involved in one cup final that went well. So to be part of one that worked out was a great feeling.

"More importantly the last 11 weeks have been a great reward for the guys, and the coaches, who put in so much work behind the scenes.

"I don't know if there'll ever be a time where we're pleased with a performance - we always want to be better.

"But we're playing a good brand of rugby, we're mixing it up, playing it tight, playing it wide, and eventually the opposition doesn't know what's coming."

Hopefully that will apply to Quins on Saturday – win this one, Glaws, and you really will be motoring.

After the breakthrough, keep it up Glaws

Discussion started by Shedloads (IP Logged), 23/03/2011 11:51

Shedloads
23/03/2011 11:51

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