Friday Night Glos


By Behind the Bench
October 22 2015

Saracens return to Kingsholm hoping for better luck than last season when an away win controversially slipped away in the later stages, and, having displayed their scoring touch so ruthlessly against Sale last week, will be confident of adding to the comfortable win they forced here two seasons ago.

Sarries will probably look to rotate to a certain extent from last week, ahead of a home tie with London Irish on World Cup Final day. Much will depend on whether the remaining England contingent will be made available, which would be helpful as Gloucester's recruitment suggests they will be a tougher nut to crack, particularly up front. If so, then a possible line up sees an unchanged backline of Alex Goode at full back, with Chris Ashton and Mike Ellery on the wings, and Tim Streather with Duncan Taylor in the centres, and the returning combination of Owen Farrell and Richard Wigglesworth in the half backs. In the forwards, Mako Vunipola may come in at loosehead with Jamie George continuing at hooker after an excellent performance (and Schalk Brits at some other less important game elsewhere the following day), and Petrus du Plessis remaining at tighthead. In the locks, George Kruis could partner Alistair Hargreaves, with a shuffle in the back row seeing Michael Rhodes accompany Will Fraser and Jackson Wray. (Helpfully Sarries are now sending text alerts of team line ups so I find out how wrong my predictions are)
 
Around ten years ago, when I first started watching rugby union, it seemed only a matter of time before the Cherry and Whites lifted the Premiership title, adding to the Championship they secured in 2001/2 which was effectively the winner of the play-offs, with Leicester Tigers still designated as Premiership champions having finished top of the league table. The following season, the winners of the Premiership final were classed as champions, as applies today, and, ironically, Gloucester lost out despite finishing top in 2003, and after collecting the European Challenge Cup in 2006, claimed the summit again in 2007 and 2008 under Dean Ryan, but were beaten by Leicester in the final, and then in the semi-finals the following year. Inexplicably, in the seven completed seasons since 2008, the Cherry and Whites have only finished in the top three once, in 2011, when, under Bryan Redpath, they also took the LV= Cup, but slipped back to ninth in 2012. That ushered in fifth and ninth place under Nigel Davies, with the widely touted potential of the exciting backline not truly unleashed, due to problems up front, which brought modest showings in the Heineken Cup.
 
Last season opened with the surprise appointment of David Humphreys, the Ulster stalwart, as the new Director of Rugby in succession to Davies. Once again, though, consistency continued to elude Gloucester, as they bounced back from an opening night humbling at Northampton to record a win over Sale, and humbled Leicester 33-16 at Kingsholm in early October, before claiming a late losing bonus point at Allianz Park. However, points became particularly hard to come by in the closing weeks of 2014, with the 39-16 home reverse to Bath, in which the scrum was overpowered, being a particular low point. There was better news in the New Year, with single point wins at Exeter and at home to Saracens, the latter through a last-gasp James Hook penalty, and in March, they featured in the most exciting match of the Premiership campaign, sharing a 33-all draw with Northampton at Kingsholm, then serving up a thrilling 42-40 home win over Newcastle Falcons with two games to spare, finally finishing ninth. Over recent seasons, though, the Cherry and Whites have done well in the second tier of European competition, and it was no exception this time around, as they beat Edinburgh 19-13 in the inaugural European Rugby Challenge Cup final at the Stoop. 
 
That gave them a chance of European Champions Cup rugby this season. One of the positive innovations of "new look" Europe has been the play-offs at the end of the season for the 20th place, and two matches which summed up the best and worst of Gloucester, and indeed their whole season. The semi-final at Kingsholm put them up against a much-improved Connacht side who led by seven with seconds remaining, after a defensive display by the home side littered with mistakes, not to mention handling errors, however, they forced extra time through Billy Meakes, and a sensational try from Jonny May in extra time finally settled it 40-32. The Cherry and Whites' HQ was unavailable for the "play off final" against Bordeaux-Begles, due to a Madness concert, so it was one step beyond to Worcester's Sixways. The game appeared won with a 19-3 lead established after a little over half an hour, but the French visitors gradually chipped away at the advantage, whilst Gloucester only added three more points, and their opponents won the contest with a last gasp drop goal as the "hosts" paid for the inability to close oit a match.
 
The close season brought some exciting squad changes, which appear to address some of their recent deficiencies, with winger Shane Monahan leaving for Munster, whilst fly half Aled Thomas went to Scarlets and scrum half Dan Robson opted for Wasps. Props Shaun Knight and Sila Puafisi signed for Newport Gwent Dragons and Glasgow Warriors, hooker Aleki Lutui also left the club, alongside locks Tom Palmer and Jonny Hill who have joined Benetton Treviso and Exeter Chiefs respectively. Some intriguing new signings include a trio of players who have represented the All Blacks at various levels: back Tom Marshall from the Chiefs, scrum half Willi Heinz from Crusaders and lock Jeremy Thrush from Hurricanes, Prop Paul Doran-Jones returned to Kingsholm following spells at Northampton and Harlequins, with fellow front rows Paddy McAllister joining the club from Aurillac and Nicky Thomas switching from Ospreys, whilst hooker Tom Lindsay ended his eleven year spell at Wasps to join the club. With players of the calibre of hooker Richard Hibbard, Hook and May still at the club, as well as a number of promising academy graduates, Gloucester look well set for improvements.
 
The new look side began the season with a 39-27 win at Newcastle Falcons with Matt Kvesic and Charlie Sharples scoring tries as a commanding 24-3 lead was established through the visitors' all-round supremacy. That starting line up saw Rob Cook at full back, with Sharples and Henry Puurdy on the wings, outside a centre partnership of Bill Meakes and Mark Atkinson, with a half back combination of Billy Twelvetrees (with 29 points in the match) and Heinz. Into the forwards, and the front row consisted of loosehead McAllister, hooker Hibbard and tighthead John Afoa, with Tom Savage accompanying Elliott Stooke in the second row and a back row of Jacob Rowan, Kvesic and Lewis Ludlow at number 8. 

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Friday Night Glos
Discussion started by TheSaracens.com , 22/10/2015 20:15
TheSaracens.com
22/10/2015 20:15
Thanks BTB and apologies for taking a while to get it published



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015:11:02:14:07:48 by TonyTaff.

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The Bard
22/10/2015 22:19
Great preview, thanks

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Convex Hull
23/10/2015 05:54
Thanks,that must have taken a fair amount of research.

Regardez mon visage. Suis-je bovvered?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:10:23:05:54:53 by Convex Hull.

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