rovigo

European club rugby is great.
The challenging competitive intensity is not matched by any other club tournament but that is the high profile Heineken Cup.
However the second tier Amlin Challenge Cup is very much the poor relation—second division stuff compared with its big brother.
Too many mismatches make for limited opposition but one thing it does provide is the opportunity for young up and coming, relatively untried players, the chance to step up a level.
There was much interest in the pairing of centres Henry Trinder and Jonny May lining up alongside Freddie Burns and fair play to them they came up with the goods.
It may not have been top class opposition but their displays were more than encouraging with plenty of points served up with a liberal helping of fourteen tries.

Worryingly near the end there was the all too familiar sight of fly-half Freddie Burns hobbling off the pitch in his first start since June with what looked like yet another recurrent bout of cramp after contributing 23 points.
T.H. 17/10/2010

Pricey's Postscript
Gloucester did what they had to do in a total mismatch that comes from having a second tier European competition. The game served no purpose whatsoever but it had to be played and Gloucester would have been severely criticised had they not taken the game seriously, at least to start with. That they decided to play with only 14 players was probably the correct decision.
I said to my son after the second try that the biggest threat to Gloucester today was cramp and I was proved to be correct with Freddie Burns suffering as was Big Les.
There were some good tries and there were some great tackles but apart from that it was an afternoon in the fresh air – no more, no less.
J.G.P. 16/10/2010
The main thing that can be taken from what was a mismatch, is that the future of Glos rugby is in good hands; the young guns of Jonny May and Henry Trinder ably assisted by Freddie Burns, Dave Lewis, Jordi Pasqualin and Olly Morgan, were the instigators of a free flowing game of rugby. A try feast was always on the cards and when Glos went 14-0 up in 3 minutes it was just a case of how many. The size of the win doesn't matter, it was the way the result was achieved that matters. This was a performance that will boost confidence throughout the squad. Yes, Rovigo aren't the strongest side Glos will play this season but to run up 90 points you have to play well. Mention must be made of the way Rovigo stuck to their task (of damage limitation), they deserved praise for trying to play the ball and not just going for points from the penalty kicks. Same score next week against Quins??
Mike

Gloucester
Olly Morgan;
James Simpson-Daniel, Henry Trinder, Jonny May, Lesley Vainikolo;
Freddie Burns, Dave Lewis;
Alasdair Dickinson, Scott Lawson, Paul Doran-Jones;
Jim Hamilton, Alex Brown;
Alasdair Strokosch, Andrew Hazell, Luke Narraway (capt)
Replacements:
Darren Dawidiuk, Nick Wood, Pierre Capdevielle, Peter Buxton, Brett Deacon,
Jordi Pasqualin, Nicky Robinson, Charlie Sharples

Tries: Hazell, Simpson-Daniel (2), Burns, Penalty, May (3), Morgan (2), Vainikolo (2), Trinder, Sharples
Con: Burns (9), Robinson
Referee - Mattheu Raynal - France
Attendance - 9,205

INDEX GLOUCESTER Matches



Cherry and Whites' try-fest in mismatch
Young guns fire
Gloucester 90 Rovigo 7 Kingsholm - Saturday 16 October 2010
European club rugby is great. The challenging competitive intensity is not matched by any other club tournament but that is the high profile Heineken Cup. However the second tier Amlin Challenge Cup is very much the poor relation—second division stuff compared with its big brother. Too many mismatches make for limited opposition but one thing it does provide is the opportunity for young up and coming, relatively untried players, the chance to step up a level. There was much interest in the pairing of centres Henry Trinder and Jonny May lining up alongside Freddie Burns and fair play to them they came up with the goods. It may not have been top class opposition but their displays were more than encouraging with plenty of points served up with a liberal helping of fourteen tries. Worryingly near the end there was the all too familiar sight of fly-half Freddie Burns hobbling off the pitch in his first start since June with what looked like yet another recurrent bout of cramp after contributing 23 points. T.H. 17/10/2010 Pricey's Postscript Gloucester did what they had to do in a total mismatch that comes from having a second tier European competition. The game served no purpose whatsoever but it had to be played and Gloucester would have been severely criticised had they not taken the game seriously, at least to start with. That they decided to play with only 14 players was probably the correct decision. I said to my son after the second try that the biggest threat to Gloucester today was cramp and I was proved to be correct with Freddie Burns suffering as was Big Les. There were some good tries and there were some great tackles but apart from that it was an afternoon in the fresh air – no more, no less. J.G.P. 16/10/2010 The main thing that can be taken from what was a mismatch, is that the future of Glos rugby is in good hands; the young guns of Jonny May and Henry Trinder ably assisted by Freddie Burns, Dave Lewis, Jordi Pasqualin and Olly Morgan, were the instigators of a free flowing game of rugby. A try feast was always on the cards and when Glos went 14-0 up in 3 minutes it was just a case of how many. The size of the win doesn't matter, it was the way the result was achieved that matters. This was a performance that will boost confidence throughout the squad. Yes, Rovigo aren't the strongest side Glos will play this season but to run up 90 points you have to play well. Mention must be made of the way Rovigo stuck to their task (of damage limitation), they deserved praise for trying to play the ball and not just going for points from the penalty kicks. Same score next week against Quins?? Mike Gloucester Olly Morgan; James Simpson-Daniel, Henry Trinder, Jonny May, Lesley Vainikolo; Freddie Burns, Dave Lewis; Alasdair Dickinson, Scott Lawson, Paul Doran-Jones; Jim Hamilton, Alex Brown; Alasdair Strokosch, Andrew Hazell, Luke Narraway (capt) Replacements: Darren Dawidiuk, Nick Wood, Pierre Capdevielle, Peter Buxton, Brett Deacon, Jordi Pasqualin, Nicky Robinson, Charlie Sharples Tries: Hazell, Simpson-Daniel (2), Burns, Penalty, May (3), Morgan (2), Vainikolo (2), Trinder, Sharples Con: Burns (9), Robinson Referee - Mattheu Raynal - France Attendance - 9,205 INDEX GLOUCESTER Matches

Young guns fire