Skivington ‘really proud’ despite a costly reverse
HARLEQUINS GLOUCESTER 28 24
GLOUCESTER Rugby head coach George Skivington refused to be downbeat about his side’s narrow loss to Harlequins despite their top-four hopes taking a major hit in the process.
England back Joe Marchant scored two second-half tries in a man-ofthe-match performance as Quins fought back from 17 points adrift to beat Gloucester 28-24.
For the opening 40 minutes, Gloucester did their utmost to gatecrash Quins’ Big Summer Kick-Off in front of a 47,000-strong crowd.
The visitors took a comfortable interval lead after tries from number eight Ben Morgan, lock Freddie Clarke and centre Chris Harris, while Adam Hastings converted all three scores and also dropped a goal.
A losing bonus point keeps Gloucester in play-off contention, but their fate is now in the hands of others.
Skivington said: “A few of our lads haven’t even seen Twickenham, let alone played here. I am really proud of them. I don’t think the boys stopped fighting. I am not going to cry myself home.
“Everyone says it is a great season so far, but I can see so many things we want to be better at. We are a bit gutted because we could have nicked that. Our penalty count seemed to go through the roof in the second half. I will have to look at how the boys handle those stress situations.
“They (Quins) have chemistry, they turned it on and they deserved to win. We can look at some of the things they did and learn, because we are not quite there yet
“If we don’t make the top four, it doesn’t come down to this single game.”
Quins senior coach Tabai Matson lavished praise on “phenomenal” centre Marchant after his team booked their place in the Gallagher Premiership play-offs.
“Joe was phenomenal again,” Matson said. “He does an amazing job for us.
“I thought (for England) against France (in the Six Nations), he was the best player on the field that day.
“For us, he is so reliable. He is one of our best. He is so versatile.
“He can be a world-class centre – he already is – you can put him on the wing, he can play full-back – don’t tell him I said that – so he is a really balanced, skilful player.
“Is he one of the top centres in the country? Yes, for sure.”
Premiership champions Quins, renowned for turning seemingly lost causes into victories, did it again, as Marchant’s double and wing Cadan Murley’s 69th-minute touchdown saw them home.
Marcus Smith kicked all four conversions, including the extras following Alex Dombrandt’s first-half try, to leave the Cherry & Whites crestfallen.
Harlequins: Jones; Lynagh, Marchant, Esterhuizen, Murley; Smith, Care; Kerrod, Walker, Collier, Symons, Tizard, Lewies, Lawday, Dombrandt. Replacements: Allan for
Jones (76), David for Murley (70), Marler for Kerrod (23), Musk for Walker (76), Jurevicius for Lewies (55), Evans for Lawday (51). Not Used: Louw, Gjaltema.
Scorers – Tries: Dombrandt, Marchant 2, Murley.
Cons: Smith 4.
Gloucester: Carreras; Rees-Zammit, Harris, Kveseladze, Thorley; Hastings, Chapman; Rapava Ruskin, Socino, Gotovtsev, Clarke, Alemanno, Ackermann, Ludlow, B Morgan. Replacements: Twelvetrees for Carreras (65), Seabrook for Harris (45), Meehan for Chapman (66), Elrington for Rapava Ruskin (48), Singleton for Socino
(62), Balmain for Gotovtsev (51), Davidson for Alemanno (73), Reid for B Morgan (43).
Scorers – Tries: B Morgan, Clarke, Harris. Cons: Hastings 3. Drop Goals: Hastings.
Sin Bin: Rees-Zammit (65).
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (RFU).