Red card controversy strikes again but Gloucester eke out win at Wasps
Billy Twelvetrees’ late penalty gave 14-man Gloucester a nail-biting 20-19 victory at Wasps that lifted them off the bottom of the Gallagher Premiership.
The Cherry and Whites had to withstand the loss of Ollie Thorley to a red card in the first half but still led 17-0 at half-time at the Ricoh Arena.
It looked as though they were going to suffer yet more heartbreak when Josh Bassett’s try completed a stirring fightback from Wasps, but just for a change they emerged on the right end of a tight scoreline thanks to Twelvetrees’ 78th-minute strike.
Gloucester, who were forced into a late change at tighthead prop, with Jack Stanley replacing Fraser Balmain, turned down kickable shots at goal on several occasions to try and punish Wasps’ indiscipline.
This approach paid off after 17 minutes when Argentina hooker Santiago Socino was given an armchair ride over the try line by a driving maul, with George Barton tagging on the conversion.
Wasps were looking short of confidence, but they had a man advantage after 28 minutes when Thorley was sent off for a head-on-head collision with Rob Miller, who had just taken a high ball.
However, numbers were temporarily evened up a minute later when Malakai Fekitoa was sin-binned for a needless shove on Socino during a scuffle.
Barton then kicked Gloucester further in front as the hosts continued to infringe before the visitors scored a well-crafted second try.
Captain Lewis Ludlow broke through off Twelvetrees’ pass and he moved the ball on to Willi Heinz, whose pass sent Scotland centre Chris Harris clear, with Barton’s conversion taking the score to 17-0.
Wasps were unable to trouble the scorers before the break, with the now-restored Fekitoa held up over the line in the final play of the first half.
But they gave themselves a lifeline within three minutes of the restart as Tom West carried well before his off-load sent James Gaskell crashing over from a couple of metres, Jacob Umaga adding the extras.
And it was soon game on as tighthead Jeff Toomaga-Allen produced a brilliant off-load to send Miller sprinting clear and bring the resurgent hosts back to within five points.
They came close to levelling matters when Umaga sent a well-weighted kick down the left wing that Bassett just could not gather after chasing it down.
Wasps’ pressure finally told with nine minutes left as good hands by Gabriel Oghre found Bassett on the left. He still had plenty to do but beat three in front of him to squeeze in at the corner, with Jimmy Gopperth’s conversion completing the turnaround.
There was still time for one final twist, however, as Twelvetrees kicked Gloucester to victory with a superbly-struck penalty that was earned by his forwards at the scrum.
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John, McKenzie was 10 years ago and he only lasted 15 months until the disgustingly unfair affair that brought him down. I thought that if he didn't get another gig over Eddie V2 then he was done. I read that he had been approached but declined to put his name in the ring.
There are no potential Wallaby coaches outside of McKellar unless you have some inside info?
Go to commentsThe way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.
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