Gloucester booked their place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Could 24 after beating Benetton Treviso 40-23 within the EPCR Problem Cup semi-final.
A win within the remaining may very well be their second trophy this season after clinching the Premiership Cup, and it will be their third Problem Cup trophy.
First-half tries from Josh Hathaway and Seb Blake noticed them hit a 15-6 lead, earlier than Rhyno Smith scored on the finish of the primary half with a magical rating.
Adam Hastings and Freddie Clarke added tries whereas Benetton’s Gianmarco Lucchesi scored two of his personal to maintain his aspect in rivalry.
However Hastings’ boot and a late strive from Ollie Thorley took them to 40 factors and all the way in which to the ultimate with a decisive win.
Gloucester are heading to their fifth EPCR Problem Cup remaining after an emphatic 40-23 win over Benetton at Kingsholm on Saturday.
Gloucester began as robust as they presumably might, throwing a slew of robust carries and sensible motion at Benetton. It was solely a matter of time earlier than they bought factors on the board and did so simply six minutes in via Josh Hathaway.
Captain Lewis Ludlow stole possession in Benetton’s 22, and a kick-through from Chris Harris wasn’t cleared up by the Italian’s backline, permitting Hathaway to pounce and open the scoring.
It took roughly 10 extra minutes for Benetton to get some kind of foothold into the sport however began to poke a couple of holes in Gloucester’s defence with some pacey carries, forcing a penalty, which Tomas Albornoz slotted over to get his aspect on the board.
Hastings, who missed the conversion for the opening strive, responded with a penalty of his personal a couple of minutes later. Gloucester, who’ve struggled within the Gallagher Premiership Rugby season and leaked tries, regarded calm and measured as they managed to nullify Benetton for a lot of the half. They made that depend shortly earlier than half-hour with a trademark maul strive through which hooker Blake crashed over with the ball in hand.
It appeared the hosts would stroll into the second interval on prime however within the fortieth minute, Benetton produced a magic second. Stealing from Gloucester’s scrum, they raced from one 22 to a different, placing it via the arms for Smith to blaze previous two defenders and rating.
Regardless of a Hastings penalty within the second, Benetton bought themselves on prime with a maul strive of their very own via Gianmarco Lucchesi. Albornoz missed the conversion that may have drawn them stage. Regardless, the sport was starting to open up and also you’d guess the Italians to thrive within the looseness.
As an alternative, it was Gloucester who thrived. Hastings capped a robust efficiency and return to kind with a strive after a slick break from Thorley.
5 minutes later, regardless of 17 minutes left on the clock, Gloucester’s followers felt the win in attain. Clarke produced one other memorable European strive when he intercepted Albornoz’s cross, operating 50 metres and diving underneath the posts.
A second strive from Lucchesi got here and so did one other Hastings penalty, however it was a late strive from Thorley that confirmed the win, eliciting an enormous roar from a crowd clad in pink and white as their beloved aspect sailed via to a different remaining.
Speaking Level – An incredible finish to a poor season
Gloucester’s Premiership marketing campaign has been dismal this yr with simply 4 wins and a boatload of tries conceded. However an enormous win over a formidable aspect in Benetton and a fifth Problem Cup remaining might save George Skivington’s season.
With one trophy, the Premiership Cup, within the bag, a second will sweeten a tragic yr for Gloucester followers.
Sharks can be robust opposition however after right now, Gloucester have each probability of doing it.
Participant of the Match – Zach Mercer
Once more, clearly – no matter you wish to say. However he deserves it. The No. 8 is constantly the glue that holds this Gloucester aspect collectively and delivers within the greatest moments with grace and aggression in equal measures.
Even with a yellow card to his identify right now he confirmed why he is one in all, if not already the most effective eight within the Premiership.
Participant Scores
Gloucester: Vivas 7, Blake 8, Gotovstev 7, Clarke 7, Thomas 7, Ackermann 7, Ludlow 8, Mercer 9, Englefield 9, Hastings 8, Thorley 7, Atkinson 7, Harris 7, Could 6, Hathaway 7.
Replacements: Socino 7, Ford-Robinson 8, Knight 7, Tuisue 7, Varney 6 Hearle 6.
Benetton: Gallo 6, Nicotera 5, Ferrari 6, Scrafton 6, Snyman 6, Negri 5, Lamaro 7, Halafihi 6, Garbisi 6, Albornoz 5, Ratave 7, Brex 5, Menoncello 5, Mendy 6, Smith 7.
Replacements: Lucchesi 8, Spagnolo 5, Zilocchi 5, Cannone 5, Iachizzi 5, Izekor 5, Uren 4.
Match Highlights
6’ TRY! JOSH HATHAWAY | GLOUCESTER 5-0 BENETTON – Josh Hathaway pounces on a Chris Harris grubber that Benetton’s backline cannot clear up.
28’ TRY! SEB BLAKE | GLOUCESTER 15-6 BENETTON – That is the Gloucester of some seasons again, trademark lineout maul. The Cherry and Whites’ pack powers via the customer’s forwards and Seb Blake dots down with ball in hand.
36’ YELLOW CARD! ZACH MERCER – Mercer heads to the sin-bin for a visit on Rhyno Smith after lacking the fullback within the deal with.
40’ TRY! SMITH | GLOUCESTER 15-11 BENETTON – Benetton push Gloucester’s scrum HARD and steal the ball. The backline then races from one 22 to a different, placing it via the arms and Smith blazes previous two defenders with the touchline extremely shut to attain.
54’ TRY! LUCCHESI | GLOUCESTER 18-16 BENETTON – They fireplace again with a robust maul strive of their very own! Substitute hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi has ball in hand because the aspect because the maul crashes over.
58’ TRY! HASTINGS | GLOUCESTER 25-16 BENETTON – Some unimaginable moments of ability amongst a quite blunted assault. However Ollie Thorley and his fast ft escape the Benetton defenders and he is stopped in need of the road. Engelfield is fast to the ruck and fires a flat cross to Hastings who scores, and converts his personal to attempt to deliver the result in 9.
63’ TRY! CLARKE | GLOUCESTER 32-16 – Freddie Clarke! The roar round Kingsholm as Clarke intercepted Albornoz’s strive provides you with goosebumps. The second-row completely anticipated the fly-half’s cross and his near-fifty metre run underneath the posts has turned the tide completely in Gloucester’s favour.
66’ TRY! LUCCHESI | GLOUCESTER 32-23 BENETTON – A second for Lucchesi and this recreation opening up properly. quarter-hour to go and also you would not be shocked if Benetton muster up a late surge right here….
78’ TRY! THORLEY | GLOUCESTER 40-23 BENETTON – Gloucester twists the knife and so they’re off to Tottenham Stadium! Good muscle from the hosts to make Benetton cough up the ball and Hastings pokes it via, permitting Thorley to choose up and rating.
Key Stat
This marks Gloucester’s fifth Problem Cup remaining and in the event that they win, they will take their third trophy, drawing stage with beaten-semi-finalists Clermont Auvergne.
