Gloucester 34-14 Castres: Tantalising second half sees Cherry and Whites bag bonus point win

The visitors got the early score, in the 11th minute, much against the run of play when Vuate Karawalevu intercepted a sloppy ball and took the interception to the house untouched to open the deadlock silencing the loud Kingsholm crowd. Pierre Popelin was successful with his first kick off the game.

Gloucester got back into the game in the 17th minute through Freddie Thomas. The Welsh lock powered through the Castres defensive line to score from close range after a superb Ross Byrne kick from a penalty put them in great attacking position. Byrne converted levelling up the scoring.

Castres got back in front on the half hour mark as their dominant physicality started to show when Loris Zarantello was on the end of a driving maul which powered through the Gloucester pack and over for the French sides second try. Popelin curved a beautiful conversion through the posts to increase the lead to seven.

It was a really back and forth first half as Gloucester got their second try through a Will Trenholm lunge. The number eight crashed through his opposing player and reached for the line to score his first Champions cup try. Byrne converted the extras once more to level the scores just before half.

Gloucester started the second half off the stronger side but their momentum was crushed by a yellow card to Deian Gwynne in the 50th minute for foul play.

Gloucester got themselves in front through a penalty kick by Byrne in the 62nd minute after a breakdown infringement by Castres.

Castres were reduced to 14 when Christian Ambadiang was shown yellow for a deliberate knock on in the 66th minute.

Gloucester extended their lead with another Byrne penalty after Castres were penalised for not rolling away.

A third try came for the hosts in the 73rd minute when replacement full back, Charlie Atkinson, dummied three Castres defenders to run from the half way line untouched. Byrne got the extras once more extending Gloucester’s lead to 13.

Castres were quickly losing shape when Enzo Herve was sent to the bin for flying off his feet at the ruck after another belter of a run from Charlie Atkinson.

The hosts got a bonus point try when Tomos Williams looped a tantalising pass to Charlie Atkinson for the replacements second score off the bench. Atkinson spun Remy Baget for a gorgeous finish to secure Gloucester all five points. Byrne kicked the extras once more.

ATTENDANCE – 8,953

POTM: TOMOS WILLIAMS

Tries: 4 (Thomas 17’, Trenholm 37’, C. Atkinson 73’ 80’)

Conversions: 4 (Byrne 18’ 37’ 73’ 80’)

Penalties: 2 (Byrne 62’ 69’)

Yellow cards: 1 (Gwynne 50’)

Red cards: 0

15. Ben Redshaw 14. Will Joseph 13. Max Llewellyn 12. Seb Atkinson 11. Ollie Thorley 10. Ross Byrne 9. Tomos Williams (captain) 1. Val Rapava Ruskin 2. Seb Blake 3. Afo Fasogbon 4. Fredie Thomas 5. Matias Alemanno 6. Deian Gwynne 7. Lewis Ludlow 8. Will Trenholm

Replacements: 16. Jack Innard 17. Dian Bleuler 18. Ciaran Knight 19. Cam Jordan 20. Josh Basham 21. Mikey Austin 22. Charlie Atkinson 23. Rob Russell

Tries: 2 ( Karawalevu 11’, Zarantello 30’)

Conversions: 2 ( Popelin 11’ 30’)

Penalties: 0

Yellow cards: 2 ( Ambadiang 66’, Herve 76’)

Red cards: 0

15. Theo Chabouni 14. Christian Ambadiang 13. Vuate Karawalevu 12. Villimoni Botitu 11. Remy Baget 10. Pierre Popelin 9. Jeremy Fernandez 1. Quentin Walcker 2. Loris Zarantonello 3. Aurelien Azar 4. Guillaume Ducat 5. Florent Vanverberghe 6. Baptiste Delaporte (captain) 7. Baptiste Cope 8. Veresa Ramototabua

Replacements: 16. Teddy Durand-Pradere 17. Atunaisa Sokobale 18. Levan Chilachava 19. Gauthier Maravat 20. Abraham Papalii 21. Gauthier Doubrere 22. Enzo Herve 23. Jack Goodhue

Gloucester’s injury woes – In a season that has been plagued with injuries for The Cherry and Whites, the Gloucester team has been ran thin at times throughout this campaign. Two more starters went off injured in the first half alone today with both Max Llewellyn and Ben Redshaw coming off with injuries it leads many to speculate what has been the cause of the crisis.

From “the pitch” too a “voodoo doll” many Directors of Rugby’s have had their say when visiting Kingsholm but one thing for sure it has been a season where the Gloucester pack especially has been run bare boned. The only upside is it has given young talent a chance to shine such as flanker Deian Gwynne who has been excellent, bar a yellow card, when called upon.

Gloucester Director of Rugby, George Skivington spoke about the four injuries sustained by Gloucester this afternoon “its not ideal but we’re well versed on that this year, we’ll have to see how bad everybody is and react too that.”

Gloucester’s season is starting to come together – After a record start of five straight league losses, The Cherry and White’s have now won four straight in all competitions. They lost 19 first team players in the offseason and the additions look like they are finally starting to click. It may have took a while but it does look like Gloucester are back to their fast pace fluid best. With a core of older talent and some extremely young and exciting pieces this team, if they manage to hold onto most of the players, look exciting for seasons to come.

Charlie Atkinson super sub – It was a short cameo from the England A’s man but his two tries and darting runs left a big impression. Although he wasn’t playing his natural position of fly half, he excelled from the full back spot and delighted the Kingsholm crowd with some electric play. He looks like the long awaited successor to Danny Cipriani at Kingsholm and after some world class fly half’s have come and left the South West side Atkinson may be the next big name to wear the number 10 in Cherry and White.

Poor discipline from Castres – It was a close game up until the 65 minute mark when the Castres players seemingly switched off. Two yellow cards in short succession reduced the French side to 13 men for a few minutes and it was in this period when Charlie Atkinson really shone brightest. It was a strong and powerful physical performance from Castres but the engine started to splutter and it seemed there wasn’t much left in the tank towards the final quarter. The cardio seemed to fall off and as such Gloucester kicked into sixth gear.

“We do have the best fans” – It was a superb performance from Will Trenholm at the base of the Gloucester pack this afternoon. The 24 year old carried hard and fast and was a menace in the breakdown forcing multiple infringement penalties against Castres. He got his first try in Cherry and White today and left the field to a raucous round of applause. Speaking on these fans Trenholm said “they’re so loud and give us so much momentum, they’re that extra 10%. There comes times in a game when the ball has been in play for two

to three minutes and as forwards we’re sucking on diesel but someone makes a big tackle and the whole stadium gets on their feet giving it beans it’s the extra little nudge we need.”

Seb Atkinson – An unfortunate injury kept the Gloucester centre out of Steve Bortwick’s autumn internationals squad but his return to fitness at Kingsholm has been smooth and he looks to be back to his powerful best with heavy tackles and darting runs.

His electric style of play got him his England debut in the summer series earlier this year and although kept out by injury for autumn his seamless return to play is surely going to give him a shot in the six nations squad. The Gloucester vice-captain is thought of extremely highly at Kingsholm, he is one of the brightest young talents in the country and is sure to get another shot in the England jersey come February.

Freddie Thomas – Thomas is a regular for Wales off of the bench but has been kept from the starting XV by Daf Jenkins and Adam Beard but with Beard ageing and new Wales boss Steve Tandy looking for ways to reignite the fire in the Welsh Dragon, Thomas may be the answer at lock to pair with Jenkins. At only 23, he has lots of rugby ahead of him and the experience of starting for Gloucester week in and week out might be what Tandy leans towards for his new Wales side.

Afo Fasogbon – Fasogbon has been on the fringes of the England team for a while now but is still yet to make a test appearance. He’s been superb for Gloucester this season and his loose play around the breakdown has improved tremendously to match his top class scrummaging. There are a few names ahead of him in the likes of Will Stuart and Joe Heyes but he’s young, raw and showing tremendous potential. Maybe now is his time to break into the England side.

Ben Redshaw – Redshaw has excelled over the last couple of weeks for The Cherry and Whites, he left at half time with an injury this afternoon but the last 120 minutes of Rugby he’s played has been excellent and he looks like such a talent for the future. He is only 20 years old but has played some high level rugby already and is surely on Steve Borthwick’s radar for an appearance in the 15 shirt for England.

Quentin Walcker – The Frenchman was dominant in the breakdown today, his carrying was excellent and he scrummaged well also. He has two capes for Les Bleus and is playing some superb rugby this season and is in a strong position to be the starting loosehead for The

French come February. His raw power shone through against a mighty Gloucester pack and looks ready to break through internationally even with some strong competition.