Gloucester inspired to final by Hastings

ADAM HASTINGS inspired Gloucester’s passage into a fifth Challenge Cup final with 17 points, including a try, in a convincing win over Benetton.

The Scotland fly-half pulled the strings in a five-try romp and now hopes to sign off ahead of his summer departure to Glasgow Warriors with a trophy in the cabinet at Kingsholm.

Gloucester will now face South African side Sharks in a showpiece final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 24.

‘It would be awesome to finish here by helping the team win a trophy,’ Hastings said.

‘We’ve put ourselves in a good position to complete the job, but there is still one massive challenge in front of us. Sharks are an outstanding team and have a lot of big guys.’

Gloucester may have endured a terrible time in the Premiership, but they have been red hot in Europe. Tries from Josh Hathaway, hooker Seb Blake, Hastings, Freddie Clarke and Ollie Thorley saw them move a big step closer to repeating their wins in the competition of 2006 and 2015.

They led throughout the contest and built a 15-6 lead after Hathaway and Blake tries.

Tomas Albornoz had kicked two penalties to Hastings’ one but, five minutes ahead of the break, Gloucester No 8 Zach Mercer was sin-binned for a deliberate trip on Rhyno Smith, after which Smith rampaged over in the left corner for Benetton’s first try.

Hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi got another score after the break, but Gloucester took back control through Hastings and Clarke’s tries, the latter racing clear for an interception score. Lucchesi crossed again, but Thorley’s late try sealed victory and set off the celebrations.

Gloucester boss George Skivington said: ‘Sharks are a huge team in every sense of the word. We will prepare the best we can, rip into the challenge and give it our best shot.’