Louis Rees-Zammit shines in return to give Gloucester bonus point win over Harlequins
Louis Rees-Zammit weaved his magic as Gloucester climbed to third in the Gallagher Premiership after beating play-off rivals Harlequins 28-26 at Kingsholm.
The Wales wing’s first appearance since suffering an ankle injury eight weeks ago was capped by him scoring Gloucester’s bonus-point try four minutes from time.
He featured for more than 30 minutes in two spells off the replacements’ bench, emphatically proving his fitness ahead of Wales’ Guinness Six Nations appointment with England next week.
Quins looked on the way to a first league victory since early December through tries from replacement hooker Sam Riley, number eight Tom Lawday and wing Cadan Murley.
Fly-half Tommy Allan kicked two conversions but Gloucester were not to be denied as wing Ollie Thorley, hooker Seb Blake and fly-half Santiago Carreras also scored tries, with Carreras adding four conversions.
A late Quins try from Matias Jurevicius that Allan converted at least ensured that Quins left the west country with two bonus-points through scoring four tries and finishing less than seven points behind their opponents.
Rees-Zammit featured among the replacements, while prop Val Rapava-Ruskin, who recently signed a new club contract, made his 100th Gloucester appearance.
Quins scrum-half Danny Care clocked up a club record 352nd appearance for the London club, overtaking former England team-mate Mike Brown’s total, with four starting XV changes seeing starts for Murley, Jack Musk, James Chisholm and Luke Wallace.
Rees-Zammit made an early entry after Thorley went off following a collision with Murley, and Gloucester struck through a sixth-minute try.
Chisholm was yellow-carded by referee Luke Pearce, Gloucester kicked the resulting penalty to touch and Blake crashed over at the bottom of a driven lineout, with Carreras converting.
It was a miserable start for Quins, yet they delivered a maul try of their own after 12 minutes when Lawday touched down and Allan converted, before Thorley rejoined the action following a head injury assessment and Rees-Zammit returned to the bench.
Thorley immediately made his presence felt, catching Carreras’ superbly-placed kick and breaching Quins’ defence for his team’s second try inside the opening quarter.
Carreras’ conversion made it 14-7 and although Quins had plenty of possession and territory, handling errors and poor discipline often undermined their build-up play.
Gloucester finished the first half on top, yet they were unable to increase their advantage and Quins remained firmly in the contest.
Quins struck first after the interval, capitalising on aggressive close-quarter work by their forwards before possession was moved wide and Murley crossed.
Allan drifted the conversion attempt wide, and that was cue for Rees-Zammit to make a permanent entry, replacing Jonny May after 57 minutes, and he almost claimed a spectacular solo score.
He beat three defenders on a dazzling 30-metre run before touching down, but television replays showed a foot in touch and the try was disallowed.
And Gloucester’s agony at that near-miss was compounded four minutes later when Quins regained the lead through Riley after Care’s clever scoring pass, with Allan’s conversion putting the visitors five points in front.
Gloucester were not finished, though, and Carreras weaved his way over for what proved to be a critical moment, and he added the extras to his score and Rees-Zammit’s touchdown to leave his team firmly in contention to secure a top-four finish.
Comments on RugbyPass
“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
3 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
2 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
3 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
3 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
3 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to comments