| A SCINTILLATING
second half saw Gloucester score forty points in nigh on forty
minutes. Six tries for the home side, including a brace from England
international winger James Simpson-Daniel and 24 points for Henry
Paul as the Cherry and Whites notched up their second bonus point
Heineken Cup win. The less said about the first half the better
- suffice to say that at best it was scrappy but all too often
it was poor fare with no flair served up with a generous helping
of mistakes.
The biggest cheer was reserved for Philippe
Saint-Andre who returned to Kingsholm for a rapturous reception
from the Gloucester fans. However the only time the scoreboard
was active was to record penalty kicks as Gloucester went into
the break with a slender 9-6 lead.
If the first half was frustrating to
watch the second half made up for that. Bourgoin had been competitive
and were still in with a chance, their young pack were in contention
up front but at long last Gloucester began to show their true
potential. Thank goodness they got better and better, with an
increasing sense of urgency and matching effort. Duncan McRae
began to prise the opposing open with some half breaks as he and
Henry Paul managed not to kick away so much ball with inept ill
directed kicking.
Andy Gomarsall’s passes found their mark
and he made the hard yards before Sinbad took the ball up to the
visitor’s line before Adam Eustace eventually crossed in the corner
for the first try improved by H.P. with a kick from the touchline.
Gloucester then lost Phil Vickery with
what looked a painful rib injury, before the Frenchmen reduced
the arrears with a try thanks to a friendly bounce from a kick
ahead aided by some lax covering from Gloucester. At 16-13 that
was as good as it got for Bourgoin . Simpson-Daniel put the Cherry
and Whites firmly in control with two tries in the space of a
couple of minutes. Firstly he was on hand to a grubber kick from
Robert Todd and then followed that up with an interception and
beat a couple of would be tacklers with a couple of steps to race
away 75 yards to score under the posts. Another H.P. conversion
made it 30-13.
RUN RAGGED
Bourgoin were now being
run ragged at last as Gloucester began to look and play like a
good side. McRae made some telling breaks and a deft kick ahead
was seized upon by Henry Paul to score under the posts for the
bonus point try.
Terry Fanolua came on to make his first
appearance since breaking his thumb playing for Samoa against
England at the RWC and with H.P made enough space mid-field to
set up Marcel Garvey for an unstoppable run on the wing. H.P missed
the conversion, his only miss out of nine kicks at goal as he
collected 24 points.
A pity too many kicks for touch proved
speculative rather than spectacular and gave away precious possession.
Try number six was for Kingsholm favourite Fanolua who went through
a tired defence-28 points conceded in just twenty minutes-to rub
salt into Bourgoin’s wounds.
McRae was named ‘man of the match’ and
had a much more productive performance marred by some lousy line
kicking but the real star influence was Sinbad.
SINBAD THE STAR
Left out of England’s
World Cup squad after illness, Sinbad now seems to have recaptured
his confidence and his resultant appetite which shows every time
he touches the ball and the expectant buzz from the Kingsholm
crowd.
Next week Sinbad is due at Twickenham
in the England squad but whether he will be joined by Vicks is
doubtful after his injury. The next encounter on the European
journey is at Kingsholm the first of the back-to-back matches
with Munster
Big efforts needed to erase the nightmare
memories of Limerick still all too clear in the memory.
If only Gloucester can transfer their
undoubted talent into top performances and more importantly points,
the season will take off. A difficult proposition but not impossible.
The second half proved that Gloucester
backs can score tries- what we need is more of them and a few
bonus points.
|
Super
Sinbad at the double 