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'Absolutely gutting' - Gloucester devastated by cruel Champions Cup loss
By PA
Gloucester head coach George Skivington described his side’s dramatic 29-26 Heineken Champions Cup last-16 loss at La Rochelle as “absolutely gutting”.
Despite leading for a large chunk of the second half, Gloucester were undone after a surge of pressure from the hosts saw Teddy Thomas cross in the final minutes to send the French powerhouses into the quarter-finals.
Skivington told Gloucester’s official website: “It’s absolutely gutting. I think the boys couldn’t have done any more than they did tonight, they’ve left it all out there and fought unbelievably hard.
“After Newcastle away last week (a 17-12 defeat in the Gallagher Premiership) we had some good chats and it was really important we set out it out that we love this team and will play hard for this club.
“We know the season hasn’t been ideal and this group have had a lot thrown at them behind the scenes, it’s been hard for them.
“But that fight tonight was what we’re all about and it’s very hard to swallow right now because frankly I think we were hard done by with the call at the end that gave them the pressure.
“I don’t moan often about things like that but I think in a big game like this there has to be some accountability around that.
“But to hold them out the way they did at the end, I’ve not seen that in a game in La Rochelle’s season. We did rattle them, but unfortunately, it’s not to be today.”
After La Rochelle opened the scoring through Antoine Hastoy’s penalty, Gloucester took the lead when Chris Harris crossed and Billy Twelvetrees’ conversion and subsequent penalty put them 10-3 up.
The home side responded with two tries in two minutes from Pierre Bourgarit and Thomas before Freddie Clarke’s try saw the teams level at 15-15 at the break.
La Rochelle went back in front via Tawera Kerr-Barlow but Gloucester responded once more through Louis Rees-Zammit and two Twelvetrees penalties then had them 26-22 ahead.
It was a lead they enjoyed for a lengthy period, but Thomas then found the winning score to send Ronan O’Gara’s men into the quarter-finals.
Skivington added: “The boys were brave in the way they attacked the game, they boxed smart and made the right decisions and put pressure on them at the right times.
“This is a serious outfit here, the European champions and the budgets would blow your mind in comparison.
“I think tonight we just showed some proper grit, played smart rugby and I’m absolutely devastated for everybody, all the players, staff, Gloucester supporters. I think we deserved to get though that round.”
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Latest Comments
The boy needs to bulk up if wants to play 10 or 11 to handle those hits, otherwise he could always make a brilliant reserve for the wings if he stays away from the stretcher.
Go to commentsIn another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.
First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.
They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.
Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.
Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.
That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup
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