Watch - 'If he stepped in at the end he would have finished that'
Gloucester boss George Skivington praised Louis Rees-Zammit after the Wales wing made a try-scoring return from injury in a 28-26 Gallagher Premiership victory over Harlequins.
Rees-Zammit’s first appearance since suffering an ankle injury eight weeks ago was capped by him claiming Gloucester’s bonus-point touchdown four minutes from time as he proved his fitness ahead of Wales’ Guinness Six Nations appointment with England next week.
He was also inches away from a spectacular solo score, earlier beating three defenders on a 30-metre run, but he put a foot in touch as he touched down under huge pressure.
“He has been sitting on the sidelines for a little while,” Gloucester head coach Skivington said. “We know what he can do but you have got to go and do it. Some boys put him into some really nice positions and gave him the opportunity, and he capitalised on that.
“If he stepped in at the end he would have finished that (disallowed try), but it was pretty special.
“No one had the right to score that try, but he got another shot later in the game and he took it. Whatever happened in this game, we weren’t seeing him next week.”
Quins looked on the way to a first league victory since early December through tries from replacement hooker Sam Riley, number eight Tom Lawday and wing Cadan Murley.
Fly-half Tommy Allan kicked two conversions but Gloucester were not to be denied as wing Ollie Thorley, hooker Seb Blake and fly-half Santiago Carreras also scored tries, with Carreras adding four conversions.
A late Quins try from Matias Jurevicius that Allan converted at least ensured that Quins left the west country with two bonus-points through scoring four tries and finishing less than seven points behind their opponents.
Quins head coach Tabai Matson said: “They deserved the win, but we walk away with two points which I think are going to be critical at the end of the day.
“Any points are going to be really valuable. We scored four tries here, and they are one of the best defensive sides in the league.
“With 10 minutes to go, we had it in our sights, so there are lots of positives.
“It is great when the league table changes every weekend. It will definitely come down to the last weekend, and those two points could be very valuable,
“We are running out of runway. We have got six games to go, and now they become must-wins.”
Latest Comments
Whats interesting now is the evolution of rugby. More and more the laws are favouring the team in possession and the ball carrier. Teams can keep the ball for longer periods more than ever before with little risk and wear down defences as long as they don’t knock it on. Set pieces are seen as hindrances and as time wasting annoyances by law makers and they are being depowered as lawmakers strive for higher ball in play time. Perhaps its only natural then that teams will take a more assertive and aggressive approach in defence. An offensive defence as you said Nick. This may force errors and turnovers and help teams to break up attacking plays while providing counterattacking prospects. Perhaps we will see more and more teams adopt the blitz in the next 4 year cycle and beyond much like Gegenpress has met Tiki Taka in football. Instead of Pep and Klopp we will have Farrell and Nienaber.
Go to commentsArrogant entitled prick with a huge chip on its shoulder
Go to comments