A 12-10 defeat at the hands of Saracens in the semi-final has dented Gloucester’s hopes of a Twickenham final place, but the whole squad can take a great deal of credit for a most successful season.
A two point margin may as well be a million; we came second and the final scoreboard tends not to lie.
Saracens seemed to have a more than rigid game plan and, if the end justifies the means, they will be happy to be at Twickenham against Leicester. However, their more than able players seemed to be hamstrung and curtailed by a plan to use the high ball at all costs.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the high ball tactic; Gloucester themselves have been pretty good at it for many years. But in the professional era it does grate when try scoring chances looked a distinct possibility yet were spurned for the Garryowen. Conversely, thank goodness they did not try to expand the game slightly as they could have been more of a handful than they actually were.
The Cherry and Whites are in Europe’s elite next season, were a top four finisher in the league and they have some silverware - not at all bad for the team that managed to lose to newcomers Exeter in the opening game and doom and gloom were the supporters’ thoughts.
We never looked comfortable against teams that, on the form at the time, should have been blown away. Yet against the very best, the side played like the best. It is a paradox that Bryan Redpath and his coaching team will no doubt give some attention to between now and the opening of the 2011/2012 season; how does the squad swat away a gnat when they have waged war successfully on a dangerous jungle predator?
The other semi was brutal, direct and there were no prisoners taken from either side. Leicester’s younger Tuilagi performed a very passable impersonation of Ali when he was in his prime and was brutally punished with a yellow card. Presumably the red will come out only for killing an opponent and the game looks rather silly when a team of three, usually in perfect harmony, looks like separate entities in Dad’s Army.
These officials are trained to the hilt, cost the game a fortune in running costs and one touch judge seems not to have seen the best combination of punches seen in or out of a boxing ring. I just hope he wasn’t driving himself home after the match as most of Leicestershire’s other motorists would have been in peril!
But that little incident pales in comparison to what has been going on at the game’s nerve centre, the RFU at Twickenham. There seems to have been more back stabbing in the Woodward drama than in Midsomer Murders - and one of the most powerful sporting bodies in the world looks inept, inefficient and out of touch. That’s a wonderful example for the game at large!
But back to more local matters. Gloucester have probably been the brightest attacking side in the Premiership and they have dared to let youth have a go - and it has worked. There has been a game that will attract more and more spectators and these are the people that clubs need. There will always be a core nucleus of diehard Cherry and White fanatics; long may they reign!
But the unattached rugby fan who wants to see a good game may well be attracted to Kingsholm and these are the ones who produce the real profit.
I can’t see too many of them wending their way to Saracens after Sunday’s fare, even though they can justifiably claim the bragging rights after victory.
Roll on next season - and who knows where Gloucester can end up when they manage to swat away that gnat?
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