No need to panic Sharpness is returning despite third loss
Rob Iles analyses the talking points from the 40-31 Premiership Cup defeat to Harlequins
» Is three defeats in a row a concern?
A third successive defeat to start the season ended Gloucester’s chances of progress in the Premiership Cup and will hardly be seen as ideal preparation to the league campaign.
Yet, the reality is with these games being treated like warm-ups ahead of the headline event that results alone cannot be used to measure Gloucester’s progress.
After a youthful outfit were beaten by a more experienced London Irish side at Kingsholm, the senior players have trickled back into the lineup over the past two weeks for two away games in which they have run their opponents close until the final minute, and there was an improvement from the performance against Bristol to the 40-31 defeat at Harlequins on Saturday.
The Cherry and Whites were sharper at The Twickenham Stoop and the benefits could be seen in players getting more minutes under their belts, albeit there are clearly still areas to improve before the trip to Sale on October 19 particularly in discipline and defence.
A win before against Bath in the final cup game that doubles up as Henry Trinder’s testimonial on Friday night would come as a welcome moralebooster.
Danny Cipriani’s return to side
As is often the case, the spotlight was on Danny Cipriani as he made his first appearance of the season for Gloucester - and the first since being left out of England’s World Cup squad in the summer.
While there may not have been any significant moments to add to his incredible highlights reel, the fly-half showed some wonderful touches with beautifully subtle passes that put players running into space, sending Jamal Ford-robinson through for Billy Twelvetrees’ try, and made the backs tick nicely as the side scored five tries.
There were a few audacious kicks too, one cleverly disguised from a penalty advantage as he kicked across field while looking the other way but it was just too high for Tom Marshall to gather.
Cipriani will be key Gloucester are to mount a serious Premiership title challenge and fans will be hoping he can reproduce his performances from his first season.
Smith influential in carving Gloucester open
Ultimately, it was another number 10 that stole the show.
While Cipriani’s hopes of playing for England again may have disappeared,
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if Harlequins’ young star Marcus Smith will surely be part of the national side’s future plans.
Still only 20, Smith was peerless as he pulled the strings magnificently with some lovely passes to carve Gloucester’s defence wide open in the first half.
He was hugely influential as Quins racked up five tries before the break with Mike Brown, Martin Landajo, Scott Baldwin, Aaron Morris and Ben Tapuai scoring.
Smith was also immaculate from the tee, kicking all five conversions before going off in the 57th minute. » The positives from Gloucester’s display
The big positive from Gloucester’s performance was their attacking play and they scored three of their own tries during a frantic first half. Joe Simpson scored his second in as many games for the club from a first phase move from a lineout that saw Matt Banahan punch a big hole in the defence and Twelvetrees went over under the posts. After a superb charge down by Lewis Ludlow, the impressive Hinkley showed his pace to reach the ball first on the try line for his second try in three games but Gloucester trailed 35-19 at the break.
They started the second half well in the ascendancy with Tom Seabrook finishing off a nice move and the pack driving over from a maul for Gerbrandt Grobler’s try to reduce the deficit to four points in an impressive fightback that should bode well for the squad’s character. » The major flashpoint
Disicipline was a problem for Gloucester throughout the game and a cascade of penalties in the first half proved their undoing.
When Lewis Ludlow was sent to the sin bin for killing the ball at the ruck, Quins made them pay with two tries in that period.
A key moment in the game came just after the hour mark though. At this point the hosts were down to 14 men after Matt Symons was sent to the sin bin and Gloucester were hunting for the try that would have taken them ahead for the first time.
Then things blew up when Ruan Ackermann, who was one of Gloucester’s top performers, lost his cool as he started wrestling with Scott Baldwin which caused a huge fracas involving every player on the pitch.
Both players were sent to the sin bin but Harlequins were awarded the penalty to clear and gradually they started to grab the momentum back, James Lang hitting the post with a long range penalty before Renaldo Bothma’s try
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