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Springbok hero Handre Pollard credited with 'best kicking game in the Premiership'
Gloucester head coach George Skivington believed his side was “pinged off the park” after seeing them crash to a third consecutive home defeat with a 38-20 loss to Leicester.
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Saracens and Bath had previously triumphed at the ground but trailing only 14-13, Gloucester were well in contention to break their losing run but two yellow-cards in quick succession for George Barton and Jack Clement ruined their chances.
In their absence, Leicester scored 14 points and it ultimately proved decisive with Ollie Hassell-Collins scoring two of their tries. Julian Montoya and Solomone Kata were also on the try-scoring sheet as Tigers picked up their first try-bonus point of the season. Handre Pollard added four penalties and three conversions for a match-tally of 18 points.
George McGuigan and Jamal Ford-Robinson scored Gloucester’s tries with Barton kicking two penalties and two conversions.
Skivington said: “We started by playing some good stuff but once again didn’t execute our plan well enough as the last pass didn’t find its way to Zam (Louis Rees-Zammit) or Santi (Carreras).
“We knew they would be physical but ultimately their kicking game got on top of us as we dropped the ball and conceded penalties.
“Leicester, with Pollard and Ben Youngs, have the best kicking game in the Premiership and as a result of it, we were penalised left right and centre. We were pinged off the park.
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“They were hot at the breakdown today and we know it is five defeats in a row now so there was some honest talking in the changing room afterwards.”
South Africa’s World Cup winner Pollard missed only one kick from eight attempts to help steer his side to a morale-boosting victory and climb above Gloucester in the Premiership table.
Pollard said: “We weren’t perfect today but we stuck at it. Obviously there is a transition going on at the club with new coaching staff and internationals coming back but everyone is chipping in to make us get better week by week.
“Our set-piece wasn’t as good as normal but it gave us a chance to try and use other methods to get us over the line.”
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Leicester head coach Dan McKellar said: “We are pretty happy to come here and score some good tries and come away with a bonus-point victory.
“The first half wasn’t the prettiest game to watch but our kick and chase and defence was outstanding.
“The second half saw our maul become dominant so we were pretty pleased with that facet and it is evident that we are moving in the right direction.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
43 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
3 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
43 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
43 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
3 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
6 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
6 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to comments