A big performance in the final ten minutes has lifted Gloucester to within three points of the play-off spots. Three tries in the last ten minutes by the Cherry and Whites has seen them claw their way back into top four contention. Here are the Gloucester v Harlequins player ratings by Robert Rees.
Harlequins
Starting off with today’s visitors, who had a tough time of it, but fought valiantly and offered a lot up front, only to collapse in the final ten minutes. It’s fair to say there were far too many handling errors and ill discipline cost them dear throughout today’s match.
Mike Brown -8- One of Quins best performers. Worked in most of the Harlequins attacks and made a superb turnover and 80m break at the start of the second half.
Charlie Walker -6- Didn’t see a great deal of the ball and was poor when he did see it.
Joe Marchant -6- Has had better days, kept quiet by the handling errors amongst the back division.
Jamie Roberts -7- Was a part of most of Quins influential charges, but was used as a crashball runner all too often.
Alofa Alofa -6- Made a few errors out wide and kept quiet with handling errors inside of him. Quiet day for the set of wingers.
Marcus Smith -8- A real good day kicking from the tee and got some good back moves going, especially early on in the second half. Just didn’t control the game as much as he wanted to.
Danny Care -7- Good vision and moved the ball around well. Just the odd bad read throughout the game that stunted a few attacks.
Joe Marler -7- Had a good day around the breakdown, was fierce and ultra competitive.
Joe Gray -6- Struggled at time during the scrums, but was decent around the park.
Kyle Sinckler -7- Carried really well and worked a lot around the park. Was solid at the set piece.
George Merrick -6-Quiet around the field, but solid enough at the set piece.
James Horwill -6- Wasn’t the best of his leadership examples, quiet most of the game. Put a solid shift in the defence though.
Mat Laumanu -6- Solid defensive shift, but quiet in attack. Ideally could have got him carrying more.
Chris Robshaw -8- Outstanding work around the field in both attack and defence. Excellent as a carrying option and at badgering the opposition set piece.
Jack Clifford -4- Didn’t really have much time to do anything, went off injured and John Kingston’s early prognosis is a torn hamstring off the bone. Out for the season.
Elia Elia 6, Mark Lambert 6, Will Collier 6, Luke Wallace 7, Stan South 6, Dave Lewis 6, James Lang 7, Gabriel Ibitoye 6.
Gloucester forwards lay the frame for the bonus point
? | MAN OF THE MATCH
Your #StowfordPressMOTM is @JakePolledri!#GLOSMOTM #GLOvHAR pic.twitter.com/CkevK6o0Pt
— Gloucester Rugby (@gloucesterrugby) April 14, 2018
The forwards really got on top of Quins throughout the last ten minutes and ultimately got them the bonus point through the driving maul.
Jason Woodward -8- Scored a wonderfully finished try on his return and looked sharp whenever he had ball in hand.
Charlie Sharples -8- Was awesome and sharp with his clean breaks in the second half, made plenty of metres to set up Gloucester’s opportunities.
Billy Twelvetrees -9- Set up Gloucester’s opener in style and was immaculate with the tee, looked dangerous with ball in hand and kept mistakes to a minimum.
Mark Atkinson -7- Powerful in midfield and a stalwart in defence when required. Too much lateral running at times, but looked good with ball in hand.
Henry Trinder -7- On his 100th Premiership appearance he had a solid game. All too often though, the final ball to the wingers was poor and ended up with a turnover.
Billy Burns -7- Was a solid playmaker in midfield and controlled the game for most part.
Callum Braley -7- Scorer of the opening try, looked sharp around the breakdown, but ball could have been more accurate at times.
Josh Hohneck -6- Did the simple things right and looked solid, nothing special from the big man. Solid day at the office.
James Hanson -7- Lineouts were excellent throughout his tenure on the pitch and offered a carrying threat as well.
John Afoa -7- A real carrying threat around the park as well as a solid set piece participant. Was dangerous around the breakdown.
Ed Slater -6- Solid around the park, carried up well. Solid shift from the captain.
Jeremy Thrush -6- Solid in defence, worked hard at the breakdown and offered another carrying threat.
Jake Polledri -9- Man of the match, scoring one try as well as being excellent around the park in attack and defence.
Lewis Ludlow -6- Solid at the breakdown, didn’t cause too much worry for Care and the Quins breakdown.
Ben Morgan -7- Powerful carrier, made the hard yards and solid in defence.
Motu Matu’u 6, Paddy McAllister 6, Fraser Balmain 6, Tom Savage 6, Freddie Clarke 6, Ruan Ackermann 8, Ben Vellacott 9, Tom Hudson 6.
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