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Injury to Lions centre a worry as former England star shines for Gloucester
Gloucester head coach George Skivington was full of praise for fly-half Billy Twelvetrees after he kicked a last-minute penalty to secure a 30-28 win over London Irish at Kingsholm.
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Twelvetrees held his nerve to succeed with a 40-metre kick to send the home crowd of 3,250 happy with a bonus-point win.
Tries from Santiago Carreras, Willi Heinz, Kyle Moyle and Louis Rees-Zammit earned Gloucester that point with Twelvetrees adding two conversions and two penalties.
Curtis Rona, Will Goodrick-Clarke and Albert Tuisue scored tries for Irish with Paddy Jackson kicking three penalties and two conversions.
Skivington said: “It takes big guts to knock that kick over but Billy has worked really hard on the training ground with his kicking.
“It rewarded our never-say-die attitude as the boys never throw in the towel as they showed that at Bristol last week when we down to 14 men early on with a red card but fought right to the end.
“Irish were very impressive in the A Zone in the first half but we were not at our best tonight although we gutsed it out to win.
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“We managed it well in the end as we won two penalties in succession so it was a clinical finish from us.”
Lions centre Chris Harris was withdrawn midway through the second half with a hand injury.
Skivington said: “Chris took a bang on the hand and it will need to be assessed. It was an easy decision to take him off with Lloyd Evans coming on and Billy moving to the centre.”
Twelvetrees was relieved that he succeeded with his match-winner.
He said: “I missed a lot of those in my early days but I felt in a good place tonight with my goal-kicking but was relieved it went over to send the fans home happy.
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“There was a bit of extra skip in the boys’ step today as we knew the fans were coming in but in the first half we were our own worst enemies as we had a big penalty count against us.
“We took on board a few home truths at half-time as we were frustrated with ourselves as our plan was to move Irish around and provide our back three with penalty of space.
Exiles director of rugby Declan Kidney was disappointed that his side could not end their losing run which they extended to six.
He said: “A game is not normally dependent on one play but we should have executed better at the end so it’s very disappointing.
“Parts of our game were good but we are not concentrating on whether we can secure a European Cup spot but just trying to take each game as it comes and hopefully continue to improve.”
London Irish flanker Sean O’Brien said: “We let ourselves down in small areas and the youngsters will learn a lot tonight.
“However we were unrecognisable from where we’ve been in the last few weeks but ultimately we weren’t strong enough in the breakdown at the finish as we got counter-rucked.”
Comments on RugbyPass
No Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
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.
18 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.
18 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 comments