Gloucester Rugby 21 - 15 Sale Sharks: Gloucester record back to back wins in the Gallagher PREM for the first time this season.

It took the visitors just eight minutes to open the scoring, hooker Alfie Longstaff dived over the line after a lovely wide overlap found Tom Roebuck who set up a beautiful two on one to isolate the Gloucester full back. George Ford missed his first attempt at the posts.

The hosts thought they got one back in the 16^th minute after a darting run by Will Jospeh set up The Cherry and White’s in great field position. A quick ball out of the ruck to Matias Alemanno saw the Argentine dive over the line from short range but referee Sara Cox called it back for a knock on, much to the crowd’s displeasure.

The Sharks doubled their lead, much against the run of play in the 24^th minute through Tom O’Flaherty. The winger picked up an offload from Longstaff after a Gloucester error and ran under the posts untouched. Ford got the extras this time. 

The hosts finally got their first try in the 37^th minute through a hard fought Ben Loader run. The winger powered through the tackle to dot down from close range. Barton got the extras reducing the deficit to five.

The hosts came out from the break the sharper of the two sides. A period of sustained pressure was finally pounced upon when Charlie Atkinson scored from close range in the 51^st minute. Barton added the extras which gave Gloucester their first lead of the match.

There was a lot of back and forth in the following minutes with Gloucester lock Arthur Clark thinking he’d extended the lead but it was called back for a forward pass.

Sale got their noses in front through a sensational Ford drop goal, in classic Goerge Ford fashion he slotted one home from 40 metres out with just over five minutes left.

The Sale lead was short lived however as Gloucester got their noses in front again through Charlie Atkinson. The fly half got his brace after a tantalising run from Max Llewellyn took five Sale defenders with him and a quick ball to Atkinson saw the fly half run in untouched. Barton got the extras once more. 

Tries: 3 (Loader 37’, C. Atkinson 51’ 77’)

Conversions: 3 (Barton 38’ 51’ 78’)

Penalties: 0

Drop goals: 0

Yellow cards: 0

Red cards: 0

15. George Barton 14. Will Joseph 13. Max Llewellyn 12. Seb Atkinson 11. Ben Loader 10. Charlie Atkinson 9. Tomos Williams (captain) 1. Val Rapava Ruskin 2. Seb Blake 3. Afo Fasogbon 4. Arthur Clark 5. Matias Alemanno 6. Freddie Thomas 7. James Venter 8. Will Trenholm

16. Jack Innard 17. Dian Blueler 18. Ciaran Knight 19. Danny Eite 20. Deian Gwynne 21. Jack Clement 22. Caolan Englefield 23. Josiah Edwards-Giraud

Tries: 2 (Longstaff 8’, O’Flaherty 24’)

Conversions: 1 (Ford 24’)

Penalties: 0

Drop Goals: 1 (Ford 74’)

yellow cards: 0

Red cards: 0

15. Joe Carpenter 14. Tom Roebuck 13. Marius Louw 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White 11. Tom O’Flaherty 10. George Ford 9. Gus Warr 1. Ralph McEachran 2. Alfie Longstaff 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour 4. Hyron Andrews 5. Ben Bamber 6. Ernst Van Rhyn (captain) 7. Jaques Vermeulen 8. Sam Dugdale 

16. Willis Austin 17. Tumy Onasanya 18. James Harper 19. Tristan Woodman 20. Seb Kelly 21. Dom Hanson 22. Luke James 23. Arron Reed

15. George Barton – 7/10 – The fullback was 100% from the tee this evening, he linked up well with his fly half and provided a secondary attacking option for The Cherry and Whites.

 14. Will Joseph - 6/10 – Not as productive as his winger partner Loader, but still a strong performance from Joseph. His footwork is sublime and his ability to change direction at speed helped Gloucester create some nice attacking play.

 13. Max Llewellyn - 7/10 – He’s really growing back into his form before his string of injuries at the start of the season. He gave a string of strong runs which set up Gloucester’s third try and a set of looping passes really helped develop overlaps for the Gloucester back line. He missed a few tackles around the park though.

12. Seb Atkinson - 6/10 – Slightly outclassed by Llewellyn in the midfield today but he still put on another strong show. He is England’s best option at inside centre and he proved why again today. Heavy hits, strong runs and excellent ball placement he realty is growing into a sensational rugby player.

11. Ben Loader - 7/10 – Loader was solid in attack throughout, he constantly brought the contact to Tom Roebuck and their aerial contest was even throughout. He put on an excellent display against a strong opponent. He also got himself on the scoresheet just before the half.

10. Charlie Atkinson – 8/10 – The flyhalf was electric tonight, not only was his ability to shift the play excellent but he took on a bunch of sniping runs himself. Constantly he evaded tacklers and made metres that put Sale on the back foot. He was unfortunate not to reap more rewards for his efforts. He has really grown into the 10 jersey for Gloucester and with England head coach Steve Borthwick in attendance he put on a show.

9. Tomos Williams (captain) - 7/10 – Williams was in fine form tonight; he produced a beautiful 50/22 just before half and switched the tempo excellently off the back of the ruck. In his penultimate home game at Kingsholm, he put on another excellent showing. His ability will be sorely missed by Gloucester next season.

 1. Val Rapava Ruskin - 7/10 – It’s three 7/10’s for the Gloucester front row. All three of them were excellent in the scrum, Rapava Ruskin had a tough challenge against the promising Asher Opoku-Fordjour but he saw him off like it was child’s play. He bettered him at every single scrum and the looseheads defensive showing was excellent also.

2. Seb Blake - 7/10 – The hooker threw almost 100% from the lineout and his work rate around the park has really stepped up towards the tail end of the season. He made a few dominant hits and his carries saw him get the better of the Sale defence often.

3. Afo Fasogbon - 7/10 – Both Gloucester props were dominant in the scrum constantly forcing penalties from the Sharks pack. Fasogbon constantly got the better of his opposing man and his open play work rate was superb.

 4. Arthur Clark - 7/10 – Clark was disruptive at the lineout turning over multiple Sale throw ins. He also ran hard throughout really cementing himself as Gloucester’s first choice lock. His ability to change gear is special for a second row and he always steps up the gas with the ball in hand; this was evident throughout today as he seemed to carry Sale players through the contact with him.

5. Matias Alemanno - 5/10 – Was unlucky to have his try called back for a knock on in the first half. He didn’t do anything else to stand out throughout though. A standard run of the mill performance from The Argentine.

 6. Freddie Thomas - 4/10 – He made the costly error to give Sale their second try and defensively slipped up a couple times. Not his best outing.

7. James Venter - 7/10 – Venter was the standout of the back row for Gloucester tonight. He was defensively excellent, constantly putting in strong and dominant hits and also disrupting the breakdown as best as he could. A strong 60 minute showing from the Springbok at the end of season where he would’ve hoped for more.

 8. Will Trenholm - 6/10 – Trenholm was a lot quieter than his last outing at Kingsholm, but that’s no surprise given how good he was against Exeter. He called the lineout effectively this evening and was strong in defence.

Gloucester finally finding form – It is a little too late for Gloucester’s chances of a playoff berth but it sets them up in good stead for next season. They seem to finally be clicking; all the sloppy handling errors and the awful lineout play have disappeared and it has been replaced by simple but fluid rugby. Strong forward carrying and breakdown play sets up the back line with the space and time to deliver the electric style of play Gloucester want to deliver.

Charlie Atkinson’s show – It was the Charlie Atkinson show tonight. The fly half stepped up and stepped up massively in front of England head coach Steve Borthwick who was in attendance tonight. Two tries and a handful of darting runs saw the young outside half shine brightest. He was a step above the rest of the field tonight and his performance outshone that of his opposite number George Ford, and that is no easy feat. With the summer series fast approaching and with the form he’s in could he be in contention to add to his international cap tally? 

“I thought he was great” said Gloucester Director of Rugby George Skivington, “ he was Jalibert esque in some of his runs today, some of those moments were world class and ultimately gets the job done and wins us the game.”

Sale’s subpar scrums – Sale really let themselves down around the scrum today. They gave away three successive scrum penalties on their five metre line and their front row was out muscled by the Gloucester front row from the first whistle to the final one. This complete capitulation by the front row cost them dearly as it gave Gloucester insanely positive field position time and time again.

England hopefuls - The Gloucester boys certainly put their names into contention for a call up for the summer series this year. Both the Atkinson’s, Clark and Fasogbon have been in and around the senior England side for a while now but tonight’s showing might have edged them in front of their competitors. They all showed up and showed up strongly and with their form at the tail end of the season they’re all red hot and ready for the step up to international rugby.

Tomos Williams’s injury – The Gloucester skipper came off in the 47^th minute holding his shoulder with a grimace on his face. He missed a sustained period of time earlier in the season with a shoulder injury and his knock today may call time on his Gloucester career. George Skivington said “he said his shoulder is sore like it was before, so hopefully it’s not horrendous but I wouldn’t be anticipating it’s great either”.