Gloucester player ratings vs Harlequins: Two 9/10s in stunning 48-point demolition

It took a while for either side to get going but the deadlock was broken in the 10thminute by Ben Loader. A set of forward phases drew in the Quins defence and Charlie Atkinson exploited the space wide with a gorgeous nudge kick right into Loader’s hands for the score.

Quins’ afternoon got worse when Will Evans was sent too the bin after a string of infringements and Gloucester made quick work of the man advantage when new superstar signing Jac Morgan rolled over at the back of a maul for his first try in Cherry and White.

Gloucester’s third came on the half hour mark as another driving maul proved too powerful for Harlequins to defend and the bonus point try came just four minutes after that. The first of the pair was scored by Will Trenholm and the fourth by Charlie Atkinson with a darting run under the posts.

Gloucester were quick back out the gates as they scored two within the first five minutes after half. The first through Seb Atkinson and the second through Caolan Englefield. Both scores came from amazing support lines which left George Furbank stranded at fullback for Quins.

Gloucester got their seventh try with a seventh try scorer as Will Joseph pushed through a weak arm tackle to convert just outside the posts in the 52nd minute and the 8th followed suit when Goerge Barton got on the end of another cross field kick to score.

Tries: 8 (Loader 10’, Morgan 18’, Trenholm 30’, C. Atkinson 34’, S. Atkinson 41’, Englefield 45’, Joseph 52’, Barton 57’)

Conversions: 4 (Barton 30’ 35’ 41’ 52’)

Penalties: 0 yellow cards: 0

Red cards: 0

15. George Barton 14. Ollie Thorley 13. Will Joseph 12. Seb Atkinson 11. Ben Loader 10. Charlie Atkinson 9. Caolan Englefield 1. Val Rapava Ruskin 2. Dewi Lake (captain) 3. Afo Fasogbon 4. Jean Kleyn 5. Arthur Clark 6. Freddie Thomas 7. Jac Morgan 8. Will Trenholm

16. Jack Innard 17. Dian Bleuler 18. Ciaran Knight 19. Jack Clement 20. Lewis Ludlow 21. Dan Robson 22. Will Knight 23. Junior Denny

Tries: 0

Conversions: 0

Penalties: 0

Yellow cards: 1(Evans 17’)

Red cards: 0

15. George Furbank 14. Cameron Anderson 13. Oscar Beard 12. Bryn Bradley 11. Cadan Murley (captain) 10. Connor Slevin 9. Will Porter 1. Will Hobson 2. Jack Walker 3. Pedro Delgado 4. James Dun 5. Harry Browne 6. Jack Kenningham 7. Will Evans 8. Zach Carr

16. Sam Riley 17. Boris Wenger 18. Simon Kerrod 19. Guido Petti Pagadizabal 20. Chandler Cunningham-South 21. Lucas Friday 22. James Lang 23. Tyrone Green

It is Charlie Atkinson’s world and we are just living in it! Fresh from signing a new deal at Kingsholm, he was absolutely phenomenal, almost perfect. A quality performance once more. Fresh off of the back of a new contract the fly half stepped up tonight. Got himself on the scoresheet and distributed play easily throughout.

Never once faulted with pressure in his face, his play was precise, quick and brave constantly waiting until the last second to shift the ball and as such opening up space for other to run into.

At 24 he has years ahead of him and he has learnt from some amazing fly halves in his time, Adam Hastings, Gareth Anscombe and Ross Byrne to name a few and you can see each of their games in snippets in Atkinson’s play. He has a tough job to be England’s leading man but in my eyes he’s the best option available, Steve Borthwick must be giving his number a call because he is that good!

Honestly this was really hard to pick, it could’ve gone to the whole team but don’t get it confused, Furbank wasn’t the worst performer on the pitch but for a player of his quality making their Quins debut they would’ve expected much more out of him.

Gloucester’s attack was just too clinical, too strong and too sophisticated for Quins and it left Furbank isolated and he didn’t manage to deal with the threat. Time and time again Gloucester just played around him like he wasn’t there.

Quick back to back tries by Seb Atkinson and Caolan Englefield both played around Furbank at full back and the England man was just not on his game. It wasn’t all his fault though, he was actually one of the better of a bad bunch today, a really bad bunch but not anywhere near what he would’ve hoped on his debut and he may have left the champions and joined the team rooted to the foot of the table. It does not look promising for Quins.

He may be 24 and some may say that’s too old for a “future star”, I disagree. I think he is having a breakout year in 2026, from the tail end of last season and into the start of this season he has been phenomenal. Gloucester made some great signings in the offseason, the best of which is in his position, Jac Morgan.

Many thought this would push Trenholm out but its elevated him, he’s like a bull in a China shop, he hits every contact at full speed, constantly wins the contact battle and this Gloucester side is noticeably better with him in it. He is everything you could want from a modern day number 8, fast and powerful and can easily fill into the backline with his slick hands.

His play is constantly improving as well and with a lack of depth at 8 for England I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a call up soon enough, whether that’s for England A or for the senior team, watch this space.

1. Val Rapava Ruskin - 6/10

2. Dewi Lake (captain) - 6/10

3. Afo Fasogbon - 6/10

4. Jean Kleyn - 5/10

5. Arthur Clark - 7/10

6. Freddie Thomas - 6/10

7. Jac Morgan - 9/10

8. Will Trenholm – 7/10

9. Caolan Englefield - 8/10

10. Charlie Atkinson - 9/10

11. Ben Loader - 8/10

12. Seb Atkinson - 8/10

13. Will Joseph - 8/10

14. Ollie Thorley - 7/10

15. George Barton - 8/10

16. Jack Innard - /10

17. Dian Bleuler - 5/10

18. Ciaran Knight - 5/10

19. Jack Clement - 5/10

20. Lewis Ludlow -7/10

21. Dan Robson - 6/10

22. Will Knight - 5/10

23. Junior Denny - 5 /10

1. Will Hobson - 4/10

2. Jack Walker - 5/10

3. Pedro Delgado - 4/10

4. James Dun - 6/10

5. Harry Browne – 6/10

6. Jack Kenningham - 6/10

7. Will Evans - 3/10

8. Zach Carr - 5/10

9. Will Porter - 3/10

10. Connor Slevin - 4/10

11. Cadan Murley - 4/10

12. Bryn Bradley - 5/10

13. Oscar Beard - 5/10

14. Cameron Anderson - 4/10

15. George Furbank – 4/10

16. Sam Riley – 5/10

17. Boris Wenger – 5/10

18. Simon Kerrod – 5/10

19. Guido Petti Pagadizabal – 4/10

20. Chandler Cunningham-South – 6/10

21. Lucas Friday – 5/10

22. James Lang – 4/10

23. Tyrone Green – 4/10