Gloucester take victory in opening pre-season fixture
Gloucester Rugby opened their first pre-season fixture with a 19 – 28 win over Munster Rugby at Musgrave Park this evening.
George Skivington’s men won the physical battle throughout the first half, leaving Munster with 21 unanswered points at half time. Tries from Ollie Thorley and Chris Harris saw the visitors cross the whitewash three times before the break.
Munster found their form in the second half against a younger Gloucester side, matching the visitor’s three tries. Despite a resurgence from the home side, it was Gloucester who came away with the spoils, thanks to a solid defensive effort and high tempo attack throughout.
What happened?
Ollie Thorley opened the scoring for the visitors within the first 90 seconds, dotting down after a dominant attacking line-out from the Gloucester forwards. Adam Hastings added the conversion before Munster fell to 14-men; their own fly-half penalised for collapsing the maul.
Chris Harris was next to find himself on the scoreboard, intercepting a pass deep inside his own half to score under the posts. Hastings made it two-from-two to put the visitors up 14-0 after 20 minutes.
It was Mark Atkinson who provided the platform for the third and final try of the half, linking with fellow centre Chris Harris, who crossed for his second score. Fellow Scotsman Hastings added the extras to send Gloucester in 0-21 up at the break.
Munster matched Gloucester’s first half try tally, Calvin Nash crossing the whitewash within 15-minutes of the restart. A second try came in as many minutes before Gloucester returned the favour, Jack Reeves scoring the visitors fourth try of the evening – converted by Lloyd Evans. 12-28.
Munster took the final score of the game which saw Gloucester pick up their first win of pre-season. Final score to 19-28.
Next up
The Cherry and Whites have two pre-season fixtures next Friday night, 2 September, at Kingsholm.
Gloucester United face local rivals Hartpury RFC at 5pm before the first team take to the field against Cardiff Rugby at 7.45pm.
Entry for Gloucester United is FREE when purchasing a Cardiff ticket. Tickets are still available – click here to get yours.
