Gloucester find their range in second-half
IT WAS Rifles Cup Day at Kingsholm but it took Gloucester until the second-half to come out firing after shooting blanks for forty minutes.
Gloucester took the local trophy away for a fourth time in a row after grabbing a much-needed try bonus point victory – but they were made to work for it.
Gloucester skipper Willi Heinz said: “We were disappointed in the first-half. Defensively, we were not holding our line and putting them under pressure so there are a few things to fix up.
“They are easy fixes. We came out in the second-half and put those scores on the board. We did it well in that third quarter and it was good that we were able to put the game away.”
Bristol have been blossoming under acting head coach Mark Tainton and had the better of the firsthalf.
After an early Ben Morgan burst for Gloucester, Bristol piled on the pressure and when the home side infringed just inside their 22, full-back Jason Woodward stepped up to slot the penalty.
Bristol started to build momentum as the pack began to dominate the close quarters and they got their reward when Gloucester went offside at a ruck and Woodward slotted the simplest of kicks from ten metres.
Gloucester tried to hit back and gained territory and possession inside the Bristol 22 but scrum-half Heinz, captaining the team while Greig Laidlaw sat on the bench, was stopped by a punishing tackle a metre short.
Gloucester’s frustration was compounded when fullback James Hook misfired with a straight forward penalty from 20 metres. It left the fans groaning at the break after seeing their side beat Saracens and Wasps in November.
Gloucester looked a different side after half-time and it was one-way traffic as Bristol’s stubborn resist had ance was breached. Gloucester called for the heavy artillery on the hour mark when ex-England ace Billy Twelvetrees, Wales’ Ross Moriarty and Scottish captain Laidlaw all joined the fray.
It was back to business as usual for the home side thereafter as Twelvetrees set up a neat try for centre Matt Scott who weaved his way through a gap to go over.
Minutes later, Gloucester a defending Bristol scrum reeling and when the ball popped out the Bristol side, Heinz seized the moment to dive over.
Bristol replacement prop Jamal Ford-Robinson was sin-binned for pulling down a driving maul and, on review, referee Matthew Carley awarded a penalty try.
Hook converted and suddenly Gloucester were on the attack again looking for a bonus point. However it was Bristol who finished the stronger.
First they had a seemingly fine try disallowed for a forward pass, as replacement Billy Searle fed lock Jon Fisher to go over under the posts before they rallied to score two tries at the death through wing Jack Wallace and replacement Luke Arscott.
It was not enough though as they fell a single point short of picking up a losing bonus.