TALKING POINTS
Perhaps it was the long coach trip and the delayed kick off but the Cherry and Whites were comprehensively outplayed and out-muscled up front by the Cardiff pack.
It's a good job for us their backs missed several chances through poor finishing.
What little ball Gloucester managed to secure was far too slow and consequently the backs were living off scraps.
No power, no possession, no pressure = no score.
Only an interception try to show for their efforts and no second half points scored at all.
Of the new recruits, only Leon Lloyd, really caught the eye - no stars in the making - all journeymen squad players on this showing.
Big Les looks to have a lot to learn about poistional play etc but at least he seems genuinely keen and willing to adapt, although realistically, at the moment he is some way off being a first choice winger.
Too much ball was turned over and far too many tackles missed.
Other than Andy Hazell, Gloucester's back row was almost anonymous but Iain Balshaw looked impressive at full back.
The less said about the referee the better - in particular his interpretations of the scrum, breakdown and ruck in particular were foreign to the law book - very much like Llanelli last season.
Nevertheless Cardiff were much stronger and sharper than Gloucester.
T.H. 25/8/2007

Pricey's Postscript
Pre-season matches are very similar to the spectacular toy you asked for at Christmas.
The anticipation of the day and the expectation of what the toy would do were always spectacularly high.
When Christmas Day eventually arrived and the packaging removed there was, invariably, a great anti-climax and often a disappointment.
Cardiff on Saturday was just the same (well almost – we had to wait a little bit longer on Saturday!).
Hazell, Allen, Balshaw & Lloyd looked sharp. Califano never gave up and Volcano unlike his RL soul mate, looked eager to get involved, although it will be sometime before he could be considered ahead of Sinbad, Foster, Bailey or Balshaw for a start wing position.
Cardiff were quicker, which you would expect from a team whose season starts next week and who had two other pre-season games under their belt.
John Price 26/8/2007