Attitude was spot on - Skivington
THE attitude and desire of the Gloucester squad during their 28-19 victory over Munster on Friday night was what pleased head coach George Skivington the most from the club’s opening pre-season friendly.
A Chris Harris brace alongside tries from Ollie Thorley and Jack Reeves headlined a game in which the Cherry and Whites experimented with two almost entirely changed teams either side of the half-time whistle.
Following an encouraging firsthalf performance from the visitors, Munster fought back with second-half tries from Calvin Nash, Alex Kendellen and Ruadhan Quinn as the URC side overcame a Gloucester XV brimming with youth.
Skivington said: “There was lots of good stuff. I thought the work ethic and willingness to work for each other was definitely there.
“There is lots we can take away from that game. There was plenty of good stuff but plenty of inaccuracies as you would expect from a first hit out of the season.
“There were lots of chances for us to test what we have been doing over pre-season and work on over the next few weeks.”
Gloucester came steaming out the blocks as an Adam Hastings cross-field kick landed in the hands of Thorley for an easy score in the corner.
The Cherry and Whites scored again as Harris picked off a Ben Healy pass in the visitor’s 22 for a score at the other end.
The Scot doubled his total soon after as he made a gorgeous link-up with midfield partner Mark Atkinson by running a hard line off the England international to overcome a tackle with ease and give the visitors a 21-point lead at the interval.
Graham Rowntree’s side scored through Nash in the corner after some silky passing across the back line, then Kendellen’s drive from short range overwhelmed the Gloucester defence.
Skivington’s men regained their cushion as youngster Reeves scored in the corner following a nifty centre link-up between Giorgi Kveseladze and Billy Twelvetrees.
The Irish side got the last score though, with some quick thinking from scrum-half Paddy Patterson proving fruitful as Quinn stormed over for the final try of the game.
Tomorrow night (Friday) , Gloucester United face Hartpury at 5pm before the first team take to the field against Cardiff Rugby at 7.45pm.
First half team: Moyle, Seabrook, Harris, Atkinson, Thorley, Hastings, Chapman, Elrington, Singleton, Balmain, Clarke, Clark, Ackermann (c), Taylor, Morgan. Replacements: Nixon, Hunt, O’connor Second half team: Dunn, Reeves, Twelvetrees (c), Kveseladze, Morris, Evans, Varney, Knight, Walker, Fordrobinson, Davidson, Clark, Jordan, Thomas, Clement. Replacements: Nixon, Hunt, O’connor