Rees lightning to the rescue for Gloucester
Atrademark bolt of rees lightning sparked Gloucester back to life as they scored 27 unanswered second-half points to secure their biggest comeback win in Premiership history.
George Skivington’s men didn’t fire a shot in the first 40 minutes as they went into the break 21-0 down. But in an archetypal game of two halves, Louis rees-Zammit started the home revival with a stunning long-range effort. the Wales wing’s try was all the more remarkable given he was suffering from a back knock and had a broken lace on his boot.
Wasps, after a fine opening period, didn’t score in the second and lost two men to the sin bin late on — helping Gloucester seal a bonus-point victory.
‘He has got those moments in him. He’s special, he can produce something like that, and sometimes you need that,’ Gloucester head coach Skivington said of rees-Zammit.
‘We got clunky in the first half, but it wasn’t a complete car crash. I back Louis all day in space. that’s what he’s here for.’
Gloucester narrowly missed out on last term’s play-offs and with a settled squad, improvement is expected. But their start to the new campaign was abysmal. to put it bluntly, they offered nothing in the opening period. at 21 points behind, it was statistically their worst first half of Premiership rugby at kingsholm.
the home faithful were far from happy with their team and rightly so. alfie Barbeary had an early try ruled out, but Wasps soon led. Charlie atkinson scored between the posts and converted his try.
the fly-half did miss a simple penalty, but responded by sending Wasps tighthead John ryan flying through a gap, leading to Brad Shields’ try. It soon got worse for the hosts, the impressive Burger Odendaal carrying straight to the line from a scrum. even rees-Zammit couldn’t lay a hand on the South african.
Gloucester needed a miracle and rees-Zammit provided one at the start of the second half. Gloucester were under pressure again but when they turned the ball over, it was shifted quickly to rees-Zammit out wide. His electric pace took him virtually the length of the field.
Now it was Gloucester firing on all cylinders and Charlie Chapman grabbed their second before adam Hastings’ penalty reduced the deficit to just six points.
Gloucester’s comeback was soon complete, aided by Wasps’ tom Willis cynically stopping play and earning a yellow card.
the Wasps indiscipline continued, leaving referee anthony Woodthorpe no option but to award a penalty try. Wasps prop Biyi alo joined Willis in the bin, allowing Freddie Clarke to grab a crucial fourth Gloucester try.
Wasps head coach Lee Blackett admitted: ‘Gloucester played miles better in the second half and the rees-Zammit try changed the momentum.
‘In the first half, we were pretty clinical and our discipline was second to none. We looked in full control. the second half was the complete opposite.
‘Coming here is difficult, getting a point isn’t a disaster.’