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Gloucester salvaged some of the pride they have been seeking in this tournament with a solid display today. In the forwards today it was hard to single out anyone for praise, and although Bortolami received the man of the match award, in truth it could have gone to any of the forwards. The front three all fronted up and dominated in the set piece and had a solid display in the loose. Califano and Azam, on their arrivals had big says in the game, Califano crossing the line, and Azam producing some destructive charges.
The second row pairing was awesome today, Brown having a great game, and a contender for man of the match until he was replaced by James. Bortolami led from the front and was a real presence in the line. The back row, where they’re usually self’s, Bucko was everywhere today, and gave Contepomi a real hard time, he charged forward like a man possessed every time he had the ball, and looks a different player to the man who arrived here a few seasons ago. Hazell was, well Hazell, never backing down and disrupting at every opportunity. And Balding seems to be finding his form from the start of last season, and was a big factor in stopping Contepomi’s score.
The backs all played well enough, and on the rare occasion the ball went to them produced some good phases of play in awful rugby conditions. Tindall had a good game out of position, his distribution was good, an area he is often criticised for, and his defence and touch kicking was to its usual high standard. The game although already entertaining, was added to by the atmosphere, there is always something special about Kingsholm, in the middle of winter, under the floodlights, and if you throw in the large Leinster travelling support the atmosphere was electric.
It was the Gloucester fans who had the most to cheer about to begin with. The first part of the contest was played solely in the Leinster 22, the forwards battering away at the Leinster line; eventually O’Driscoll killed the ball illegal and found himself heading off to the bin.
It took towards the tail end of the sin bin spell, for Gloucester to get the first points on the board however. After Leinster had pulled down several mauls illegally, and got away with it, they were not so fortunate and from a Bortolami catch and drive, the maul was deemed to have been brought down illegally by the ref and a penalty try was awarded.
Shortly afterwards, Pete Richards found himself in the bin for back chat, and it was Gloucester’s turn to be a man down. This put Gloucester on the back foot and Leinster began to play a bit more, and were denied by the bear like arm of Balding, doing just enough to ensure he lost control of the ball as he attempted to ground the ball under the posts, following a break from a 5 metre scrum.
Leinster were not to be denied however, and it was not long before the score was level. Whitaker feed Keogh, who stormed into the 22 and brilliant pass inside to Heaslip, and although he was hauled down about a metre from the line, O’Driscoll was able to collect the ball and fall over the line, Contepomi duly converted. And that closed out the scoring in the first half.
It wasn’t until well into the second half, that another score was posted, Contepomi kicking a penalty after Gloucester were adjudge to have not rolled away in the ruck. Gloucester dominance in the front five was starting t pay dividends however and they were soon rewarded. Bortolami collected another lineout and the pack drove over from about 20 meters out, Califano the scorer, but in truth it was a pack effort.
Shortly after Rory Lawson and Tindall set in motion another crucial attack and then Lamb switched the angle of the attack to the open side, sending Balshaw on his way before Mark Foster chipped over Rob Kearney, got in front of the Leinster defender and won the race to the ball. Lamb who’d had a solid display since his introduction at the start off the half, converted brilliantly from the touch line.
After this Gloucester showed they’d learnt from Agen the art of keeping the ball going through an awesome 30 phases and the length of the pitch, Leinster had no answer. They got the ball back however and were able to land a penalty at the death to gain a losing bonus point.
So pride was restored and hopefully also a performance that can be used to build off of for the rest of the season if the lads continue to play like that, we’ll certainly win a lot more than we loose. Hopefully starting with a win next week…
Russell Brookes 23/01/07
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