Forgotten England star shines as Gloucester see off Castres

Gloucester put in a late kick to ease to a 34-14 victory our Castres in their Investec Champions Cup opener at Kingsholm.

The match had been level at 14-14 with 20 minutes to go before the home side streaked to the win, thanks largely to two late tries from substitute Charlie Atkinson, the second of which with almost the final play ensuring they picked up a winning bonus point.

Castres had taken the early initiative and gone in front through a converted try in the ninth minute from Vuate Karawalevu.

Freddie Thomas went over for Gloucester’s first score before the visitors regained the lead through Loris Zarantonello’s converted try.

Will Trenholm crossed over to level things once more before fly-half Ross Byrne kicked two penalties to edge Gloucester into a lead they would not relinquish.

22m Entries

Avg. Points Scored

1.7

18

Entries

Avg. Points Scored

3.5

4

Entries

That set things up for Atkinson to seal victory late on and move his side second behind Bath in Pool 2.