Gloucester rebound from slow start to finish with a Willi Heinz flourish
Gloucester staged an impressive second-half rally to beat Newcastle 35-24 in an entertaining Gallagher Premiership game at Kingsholm. A lethargic Gloucester found themselves 21-7 in arrears after 20 minutes but the hosts rose from their slumbers to dominate and secure a morale-boosting victory.
Willi Heinz scored two tries of their tries. Louis Rees Zammit, Ruan Ackermann and Lloyd Evans also crossed, with Evans adding four conversions and Billy Twelvetrees one. Callum Chick scored two tries for Newcastle and George McGuigan got the other, with Brett Connon converting all three and adding a penalty.
Newcastle took an early lead when Chick rewarded a period of pressure to force his way over but Gloucester, unluckily beaten last week at Sale, soon responded with an excellent try. A burst from Mark Atkinson created space for Rees-Zammit and the wing took full advantage by powering past weak tackles from Tom Penny and Chidera Obonna to score.
The explosive start to the game continued with a third try in the opening 11 minutes, with McGuigan burrowing his way over to put Falcons back in front. Gloucester conceded five penalties in the opening quarter and were again made to pay when Luther Burrell made a half-break to create a second try for Chick with Connon’s third successful conversion giving his side a healthy lead at the end of a lively first quarter.
The hosts suffered a further setback when England wing Jonny May walked off with an injury to be replaced by Santiago Carreras – but Gloucester woke up to have the better of the second quarter. Rees-Zammit raised their spirits by splitting the visitors’ defence with a superb run to earn his side a platform in the Falcons 22 but despite a succession of line-out drives, the home side could not capitalise and were still 14 points adrift at the interval.
FULL TIME
A wonderful second-half comeback means we take the full 5 points!
? 35 – 24 ? | #GLOvNEW pic.twitter.com/esMTu5fJO9
— Gloucester Rugby ? (@gloucesterrugby) April 24, 2021
Within three minutes of the restart, Gloucester roared back into contention when scrum-half Stephen Varney broke away from a maul to provide Ackermann with an easy run-in. Before play could resume, Varney was replaced by Heinz and within minutes the substitute was on the scoresheet as Gloucester drew level with a superb try,
From inside their own 22, Carreras made a clean break to send Rees-Zammit away, with Heinz up in support to collect the inside pass and score. Newcastle lost Burrell to a shoulder injury but the Falcons regained the lead with a penalty from Connon before Evans and Heinz turned the game Gloucester’s way with late tries.
"You do get a bit rusty on things like tackling properly because I haven’t had to make a full-on tackle in a while"
– Paolo Odogwu went 11 weeks without playing due to an England call-up where he never made Eddie Jones' match-day 23 https://t.co/8TiZzNh5CT
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 23, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
This team does not beat the ABs sadly
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
3 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
54 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
54 Go to comments