Parton try lands the KO for Irish fighters
LIKE two sluggers without much care for their own wellbeing, London Irish and Gloucester traded blows throughout a nine-try thriller in Brentford.
That the home side made sure of their victory with only eight minutes to go is testament to their guests’ tenacity, and the ding-dong nature of this entertaining scrap.
Encapsulating the spirit of this contest, Irish head coach Declan Kennedy chose to praise his vanquished adversaries rather than single out his own troops.
“I give them credit for what they did,” he said. “We know they play a great brand of rugby and are dangerous across the park.”
The scoring began with less than a minute on the clock. Adam Coleman’s game lasted just as long with a suspected hamstring injury, but it was his charge of Willi Heinz’s box-kick that led to Blair Cowan registering his first of two tries.
Gloucester roared back immediately. Billy Twelvetrees’ restart was allowed to bounce into the arms of Jordy Reid who unfurled a cute pass for Henry Trinder to scamper over in the corner.
Before the first quarter of an hour was out, Ollie Hassell-Collins obliged Paddy Jackson’s miss pass with the finish it deserved and Alex Craig dotted down having cut a scything line against the grain.
Jackson’s failed conversion at the second time of asking separated the teams.
Both fly-halves expressed themselves upon the match but it was the London Irish lineout that hogged the limelight.
Agustin Creevy was pinpoint with his input and was aided by the immense Rob Simmons to aim at. The Wallaby veteran with 105 Test caps was a standout among a pack that deserved their victory.
The Exiles’ continued to
go to their maul and a rolling penalty count had Ian Tempest wave his yellow card in the face of Ciaran Wright for entering the wedge at the thin edge.
But the early deluge was all the action the scorecard would see as Gloucester held on to their two point advantage.
“It (the yellow card) was a turning point,” Kidney said. “But we would have scored anyway. Scoring first in the second half allowed us to have confidence to be ahead in the party.”
The extra man told in the tight spaces.
Two minutes after the interval Cowan bagged his brace following a neat giveand-go with Albert Tuisue off the base of a lineout. Eight minutes later Creevy got the five-pointer his work merited as a driving maul on the right disintegrated Gloucester’s forwards.
But the men in white – still without a Premiership win since November – refused to pack it in.
Mark Atkinson’s scramble under the posts on 55 minutes allowed Twelvetrees to nudge his team back within a point.
The knockout blow came nine minutes from time. Tom Portan slid home on the right to cap a move that Hassell-Collins began in a different hemisphere.
The blonde-mopped winger collected a loose ball, brushed off tackles and created the overlap that ultimately won the game.
Alex Craig’s consolation at the death could only secure a losing bonus point for Gloucester.