England hopeful stars once again as Gloucester hammer Sale in PREM Rugby Cup

Gloucester were first off the mark with three tries within the first 20 minutes. The first through Ben Redshaw who continued his fine run of form then the second came ten minutes later from a powerful maul drive which saw Seb Blake credited with the put down. The third was added by Will Joseph who was too strong for the tackler as he carried him over the line for the score. Charlie Atkinson got two of his three kick attempts.

Sale got two back in the next 10 minutes however, the first through Alfie Longstaff with a driving maul of their own, a cheap Gloucester defensive penalty set the Sharks up in a strong field position and they made easy work of scoring. The second through Dom Hanson after an overlap was well exploited on the wing, providing a two on one on Caolan Englefield and Hanson was in the right place to score. Ollie Davies got both kicks.

Gloucester wrapped up the bonus point in the 27^th minute after a loose ball was scooped up by Ollie Thorley who put on the burners and outran the rest of the field. Atkinson got the kick once more.

Sale were reduced to 14 men when Ponipate Loganimasi was sent to the bin for an intentional knock on in the 37^th minute.

Gloucester got one more before the half as Blake dove over off the back of another maul for his second try of the half.

Gloucester started the second half as strongly as they started the first when a Redshaw break set up Knight for the put down. Sale responded with two tries in quick succession, the first through Nathan Jibulu and the second a long run down the wing by Tom O’Flaherty.

Gloucester extended their lead once more with just over 15 minutes to play through Will Trenholm.

The final action of the game saw Bevan Rodd sent to the sin bin after an accumulation of goal line defensive penalties from Sale.

Tries: 7 (Redshaw 5’, Blake 14’ 40’, Joseph 20’, Thorley 27’, Knight 44’, Trenholm 64’)

Conversions: 4 (Atkinson 14’ 20’ 27 40’)

Penalties: 0

Yellow cards: 0

Red cards: 0

15. Ben Redshaw 14. Ollie Thorley 13. Wil Joseph 12. Max Knight 11. Ben Loader 10. Charlie Atkinson 9. Caolan Englefield 1. Dian Bleuler 2. Seb Blake 3. Afo Fasogbon 4. Will Trenholm 5. Jack Mann 6. Hary Taylor 7. Lewis Ludlow (captain) 8. Jack Clement

16. Jack Innard 17. Val Rapava Ruskin 18. Ciaran Knight 19. Tom Worts 20. Jack Gilbert 21. Dan Robson 22. Ross Byrne 23. Junior Denny

Tries: 4 (Longstaff 22’, Hanson 25’, Jibulu 51’, O’Flaherty 53’)

Conversions: 3 (Davies 23’ 25’ 51’)

Penalties: 0

Yellow cards: 2 (Loganimasi 37’, Rodd 80’)

Red cards: 0

15. Luke James 14. Tom O’Flaherty 13. Alex Lozowski 12. Marius Louw (captain) 11. Ponipate Loganimasi 10. Ollie Davies 9. Dom Hanson 1. Ralph McEachran 2. Alfie Longstaff 3. Tye Raymont 4. Reuben Logan 5. Tom Burrow 6. Jos Gilmore 7. Tristan Woodman 8. Sam Dugdale

16. Nathan Jibulu 17. Bevan Rodd 18. Patreece Bell 19. Christ Tshiunza 20. Dylan Hodkinson 21. Gus Warr 22. Toby Wilson 23. Alex Wills

1. Dian Bleuler – 7/10 – Was at the front of all the pods he ran, making metres and carrying well, he also had Raymont’s number in the scrum throughout.

2. Seb Blake – 6/10 – Blake’s set piece woes from last week continued into today with two lineout overthrows within the first 10 minutes however he converted from the back of a maul to score twice and his play around the park was consistently good. I’d love to give him higher than a 6/10 but his lineout play was subpar.

3. Afo Fasogbon – 5/10 – Just a standard run of the mill performance from Fasogbon today, didn’t stand out to me but also didn’t put a foot wrong, a solid 5/10 performance.

4. Will Trenholm – 7/10 – He is just a force of nature with ball in hand, time and time again he won the contact battle. He was playing out of position today but was in charge of calling the lineout which was mostly a success. There were three lineouts lost in the first half though which he missed the catch for so I can’t give him a higher rating.

5. Jack Mann – 6/10 – Mann put in some of the hardest hits I’ve seen today which saw groans let out from the Kingsholm faithful but he did pull up with an injury just after half, played through it but was noticeably sheepish around the park afterwards.

6. Hary Taylor – 5/10 – He was outshone by the players around him today, he didn’t play badly however and put in a good stint jackalling around the breakdown just didn’t elevate his game to the next level.

7. Lewis Ludlow (captain) – 6/10 – Ludlow gave away a couple of breakdown infringements today but outside of that he led his team well and put the first foot forward in defence to make dominant collisions at the expense of his opponents.

8. Jack Clement – 7/10 – So much better than last week in my opinion. He turned the ball over in the breakdown a few times and carried hard which helped Gloucester break through the Sale defensive line multiple times.

9. Caolan Englefield – 7/10 – Englefield shifted play and tempo well today, he isolated some of the Sale defence with long flat passes and his box kicking was a good tool Gloucester utilised.

10. Charlie Atkinson – 8/10 – electric from the get go, he was the catalyst for the Gloucester play, his vision is excellent and he shifted the play beautifully. He also had a smashing 50-22 to set up the second try.

11. Ben Loader – 6/10 – Loader knocked the ball on a couple times and missed the cross field kick by Atkinson which would’ve been a sure try. When Sale tried to play down his wing he was able to contain them relatively well except for the break that led to Dom Hanson’s score. He did however switch a gear in the second half and would bounce off of a lot of tackles.

12. Max Knight – 8/10 – Knight started the game off with a bang! A strong line break set up Redshaw for the first try and he ran some amazing lines that twisted up the Sale defence causing holes for his teammates to run through, complimented Atkinson brilliantly. His try just after half time was a well-deserved reward.

13. Will Joseph – 6/10 – Joseph was quieter outside Knight than he would’ve liked but didn’t make any big mistakes, just a quiet game of rugby from the number 13. He did take his try well however.

14. Ollie Thorley – 7/10 – Thorley was back to some of his best rugby this afternoon, poached himself a try and stood tall defensively. He didn’t get much service however as most of Gloucester’s play came through the centre of the park.

15. Ben Redshaw – 7/10 – Redshaw scored early on and was unlucky not to get a second shortly after. He has really started the season in fine form and has seemingly grown a lot over the summer break. If this run of form continues the number 15 jersey at Kingsholm is all his.

Replacements – 6/10 – It took them a few minutes to get into the game but when the replacements had woken up they brought a new life to a Gloucester attack that had started to stall, Ross Byrne’s play particularly stood out with some good passes and attacking options.

The England under 20’s hooker has been at Sale for three seasons now and has made 13 appearances for The Sharks, eleven of these coming in 2025/2026. Sale are extremely high on Longstaff and although they signed Nathan Jibulu from Exeter in the summer Longstaff was given the nod today ahead of him and I see this being the reoccurring theme for the season. A clinical lineout thrower with immense around the park potential.

Longstaff is a name to watch and in a few years could be England’s answer at Hooker with seasoned internationals such as Jamie George reaching the tale end of his career. Keep a close eye on Longstaff, as he may become a rugby household name fairly soon.

Junior Denny (Gloucester and England) – The 18 year old winger scored a try on his Gloucester debut last week away at Bristol and nearly won Gloucester the game with a last possession carry. He’s agile as well as strong and standing at well over six foot, he’s got the physique to overpower opposition.

He’s thought of highly at Kingsholm with back to back appearances in the PREM rugby cup to start the season and with some England under 18 caps to his name he is certainly one for the future. Gloucester have a range of options for their back three so he may be limited to just cup fixtures for the season but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him break into the first team towards the tail end of the season.

Jack Mann (Gloucester and Scotland) – The Scotland international is already a big name in the rugby world but struggled to break into the starting XV last season due to injuries and with Gloucester signing Wales captain Jac Morgan there is extra competition for those back row places.

However, when fit he is an incredible rugby player. His offense is dominant and his work rate off of the ball is second to none. This could be his breakthrough season and I wouldn’t be surprised if Gregor Townsend sends him a call for the six nations come February, he is that good. He is also versatile enough to be moved to lock if needed by Gloucester so he should see the field regularly this season.

Ben Redshaw’s attacking excellence – If you were doubting Redshaw’s quality at the end of last season, you aren’t now. He may have looked sheepish at times last year but he looks absolutely superb now. Physically he looks bigger, mentally he looks stronger and his play has just been amazing to open his 2026/2027 account.

Two tries in his first two games and was unlucky not to get at least one more today. He pulled into the attacking shape with excellent timing and his decision making was top notch. He operated well outside of Atkinson and Knight and seemed to always be in the right place to receive the ball on the front foot. Watch this space for what may be Gloucester and England’s next great full back.

Gloucester learn from last week’s defensive woes – Gloucester this week looked a different team than the one that faced Bristol last week. At Ashton Gate they were leaky at best in defence whereas today they were strong, assertive and reacted to the challenge well up front. A special mention goes to Jack Mann who put in some heavy first half hits but then took a knock which ended his game early.

After giving up 43 points to Bristol last week, I’m sure Director of Rugby George Skivington drilled defensive plays into training this week. Although they still gave up four tries, they came against the run of play and from silly errors rather than just consistently being outgunned and overpowered by the opposition. A big step in the right direction from The Cherry and Whites this afternoon and with a week off before Exeter away to open their Gallagher Prem season, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Sale backups didn’t step up as hoped – No one was expecting Sale to put out their starting XV for this cup match but the players they put on didn’t quite make the impact they hoped, there was some big names in and around the side such as Gus Warr, Tom O’Flaherty and Marius Louw but they never really seemed to challenge Gloucester.

The forward battle went all Gloucester’s way with Raymont and McEachran outmuscled by their opposing props and some poor lineout play put their back line on the backfoot early doors which just didn’t have the effect they would’ve liked.

He won the fly half role off of Ross Byrne last season and he has truly run away with it. He’s been moulded into a sensational fly half after sitting behind both Adam Hastings and Gareth Anscombe for a couple seasons and he’s truly taken the best of both of their games and adapted his own. He has the ability to delay the pass right until the very last second and when he does ship the ball off it is at the right height and pace to isolate the defensive line. He has a few players ahead of him in the England order but his quality is amazing and he should be knocking on Borthwick’s door soon especially with his ability to play both 10 and 15.

Gloucester start their season away with a trip to Sandy Park to face off with last years playoff contenders Exeter Chiefs whilst Sale welcome Bristol Bears to Lancashire for their first game. Both sides had a disappointing season in 2025/2026 finishing 7^th and 8^th respectively and after a range of strong signings from both sides both George Skivington and Alex Sanderson will be hoping for much more.

I still see both sides finishing bottom half of the Gallagher Premiership table this season but I believe it will be closer than the drop off was last season. If Gloucester’s international signings hit the ground running they could even be a dark horse for a top four finish and a playoff berth.

Speaking on the opening game against Exeter Gloucester attacking coach Brett Deacon said “the premiership is an unbelievably competitive competition, we need to make sure we’re prepared for a battle that will be every week, we’re not getting carried away because we’re nowhere near there yet. We know exactly what we’re getting at Exeter”.