A sunny afternoon greeted the Gloucester and Bath supporters who made the trip to the almost perfect halfway point at the Memorial Stadium in Bristol. With Gloucester’s Kingsholm ground being readied for the World Cup, the quaint home ground of League 2 football side, Bristol Rovers, was the location for the West Country Cup Round Two. As anticipated there was a respectable crowd with good turn-outs on both sides.
In a clear parallel between the first game last week between Exeter and Gloucester, the home side fielded a strong line up with the visitors putting faith in youth. As the Chiefs did at Sandy Park, the Cherry and Whites raced quickly into a two try lead following a missed penalty by James Hook. Both wingers, Charlie Sharples and Henry Purdy, profited from Gloucester’s willingness to go wide and scored fairly simple tries in each corner. A turnover on the Bath five metre line lead to a simple third try for Sharples, which gave the hosts an unassailable platform from which to dominate the youngsters in blue and black.
The tries continued as the forwards joined in, with Matt Kvesic and a penalty try adding to the scoreboard before half time. Credit must go to the Bath fans, particularly the very vocal contingent sat behind me in the main stand, who continued to get behind their side, despite clearly being out of their depth against the international class players opposite them.
The half time score read 38-0 to the Cherry and Whites, and they will no doubt have been keen to avoid the mistake Exeter made in letting them back into the game. They achieved this but to the detriment of the scoreboard, as they only added two further tries in the second half, following a raft of substitutions that inevitably punctured the rhythm of the game.
It may have only been a pre-season game but it perhaps raises questions about Gloucester’s mentality, which has often been lacking a ruthless touch in recent years. Whether they would have kept the foot on the pedal in a premiership game is unknown, but of course they wouldn’t expect to face such an inexperienced side.
Nevertheless, any victory against rivals Bath will be remembered and notching up 50 points will be a great morale boost for the squad as they prepare to play the return match in two weeks, and further down the line build towards the first Aviva Premiership game against the Newcastle Falcons. This game and the performance down at Sandy Park last week will give Laurie Fisher and David Humphreys some pleasant headaches, with good displays from youngsters like Lewis Ludlow at Number 8 and Dan Thomas at Flanker.
Greater tasks lie ahead, but the coaches and supporters will head home happy with the afternoon’s outcome.
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