A 68-17 victory against Sale in the last Premiership league match of the season was not at all a bad finale.
The Kingsholm faithful will have gone home happy and they saw some quite remarkable tries during the afternoon.
There was little sign of a points bonanza at half-time when Gloucester went in with a 19-3 lead. Both sides seemed to be struggling to get things to happen and there was more drama from the announcer and the scores at Newcastle’s and Leeds’ matches - both crucial in the two clubs’ immediate future.
In a sense this was a ‘dead’ game as long as the Cherry and Whites got a win, but Sale seemed determined to gift wrap the present by turning down two very scoreable chances in the first few minutes.
And that seemed to set the tone, with the home side struggling to light the match to set the fuse off to send the rocket soaring in the sky. The players were not sitting back and not trying; it was just that the cogs did not move together at the same time and there was almost no early ball from the contact area, even though there seemed to be ample possession.
There was a distinct lack of zip from the Cherry and Whites and we have seen this symptom quite often this season: play the best and we perform spectacularly; play bottom of the table teams and we seem to get caught up in their mediocrity. There is something chameleon-like about this, but the second half blew away such preconceptions.
Scott Lawson is developing into an extremely influential player and his handling skills make him an ideal link man in loose play. He has the nous to pop up as first receiver and distribute efficiently when many forwards would simply take route one and barge into contact. He got the game’s first try and we ought to see much more of him as he assumes even greater responsibility.
But it was the backs who stole the show. There are some extremely gifted young players out there and they have one commodity that money can’t buy - gas! Sharples popped up everywhere and will no doubt receive an Oscar for his outrageous dive to score a try in the 60th minute. Trinder was not far behind with pace and there is always Simpson-Daniel to threaten if the young tyros are not hogging the limelight.
The crowd got well behind Robinson when he was substituted to end his career on the Kingsholm turf. We will never find out exactly why he had to go, but the bottom line in top-class professional sport is the not insignificant matter of money. Balancing the books may well be as important as selecting a squad, but he has performed well at Gloucester. He is no thumping defender, but he reads the game and understands what his side requires in pace and position.
When Charlie Hodgson was substituted, he had played his last game for Sale and the Gloucester supporters gave him a magnificent send-off. If he has the temerity to score for Saracens when he comes calling again, he might get a very different reception, but that is for the future.
The crowd went into delirium overdrive with a minute to go and Gloucester decided to take a scrum at a penalty instead of accepting the formality of three points. Delirium went ballistic when Narraway fed Lewis for a try that took the score to a grand total of 68 with the conversion.
What had started as an edgy, uncertain first half had been blown into a scoreline that is rarely seen at this level. Fish fingers to lobster thermidor within 80 minutes!
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