Thorley’s try shocks Saracens

Gloucester wing Ollie Thorley saved Karl Dickson from possible controversy on his debut as a Premiership referee with an opportunist try that helped to condemn Saracens to only their second league defeat of the season.

Dickson, the former Harlequins scrum-half who retired from playing only six months ago, became the first former Premiership player to referee in the competition but he upset Gloucester’s supporters when he awarded Saracens hooker Schalk Brits a 53rd-minute try.

Gloucester thought there was an obstruction in the build-up but Alex Lozowski drop-kicked the failed conversion attempt before Dickson had the opportunity to consult the television match official. There were boos and chants of: “You don’t know what you’re doing” from disgruntled Shedheads but it all turned out nicely for Gloucester. Tries from Thorley, who snaffled a precise crossfield kick from Billy Burns, and full-back Tom Hudson, on his first Premiership start, rewarded Gloucester for a brilliant first-half defensive effort led by Billy Twelvetrees, a former halfback partner of Dickson at Bedford.

“I thought Karl dealt with the game extremely well,” Twelvetrees said. “That’s what’s brilliant about having players as referees. They don’t get intimidated by the environment, the Shed or the fans. They just stay relaxed and make the right decisions and I thought he had a great game.”

Saracens had their chances in the first half when they kicked a succession of penalties to the corner but were unable to batter their way over. Instead Saracens had to rely on a last-minute penalty from replacement scrum-half Ben Spencer to salvage a losing bonus point.

“We were very dominant in the first half and we couldn’t capitalise on the scoreboard. You have to give Gloucester a lot of credit for that,” said Saracens’ director of rugby Mark Mccall. “They scrambled well in their 22 and we probably could and should have done better.”