Gloucester Rugby: David Humphreys is pleased with story so far

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GLOUCESTER 45 MUNSTER 8

David Humphreys was delighted as Gloucester continued their pre-season with another commanding performance. The Cherry and Whites turned on the power as they blew Munster away in a second-half try-fest at Kingsholm.

They led the Irish province by just 10 points at half-time, courtesy of a penalty try and the boot of James Hook.

But they let loose following the break with five more tries.

Billy Twelvetrees set the tone with the try of the afternoon before Matt Kvesic and Elliott Stooke contributed with a brace each.

The win must be tempered by the fact that Munster travelled to England with a second string squad which contained 11 debutants.

Humphreys said: “It wasn’t about the win it was about trying to get a performance; another week for (head coach) Laurie (Fisher) to implement some of his ideas and we saw that.

“There were large parts where we were very good but there was also a lot of unforced errors but that’s pre-season and we’re delighted to have come through the game with a reasonably good performance without any injuries.

“There are so many different things you look for in terms of how you measure success. It’s obviously about all the elements around set-piece and counter-attack but it’s also about how you work back.

“Everyone has something to prove and you could see that in the effort, the energy and attitude they brought.

“We’ve talked a lot about expectation, we have a huge amount of experience in the squad but we understand it’s pre-season, we understand you can’t take too much out of results but at the same time I have played Munster twice a year for the last 20 years and know how difficult a side they are to play and we’re delighted with the way it worked out.”

Gloucester soon sent the Shed into raptures. Vastly experienced John Afoa and Richard Hibbard were signed in a bid to tackle the club’s forward woes and they made an instant impact as the pack powered to a penalty try.

They earned a free-kick from a Munster scrum and after twice opting to go back to the set-piece Greg Garner was given no choice but to award the try.

Hook converted the effort to hand the hosts a 7-0 lead.

Gloucester continued to cause the Irish province problems with breathless 15-man rugby and Hook kept the scoreboard ticking with a penalty on 14 minutes.

Munster were dealt a blow when Ivan Dineen was perhaps harshly sin-binned for a slight tip-tackle on Hook.

Munster clocked their first points of the match with a Johnny Holland penalty just one minute into the second half but Hook almost instantly replied to restore Gloucester’s 10-point advantage.

The Wales ace kept the scoreboard ticking with his third penalty on 49 minutes and the game soon burst into life.

From first phase ball quick hands released Henry Trinder on a razor sharp line. The centre displayed great pace to tear into the Munster half and he returned the ball to his midfield partner Twelvetrees, who stretched home.

Hook added the extras to give Gloucester a 23-3 lead at which point mass changes were made but that did not deter the Cherry and Whites.

And to the delight of the Kingsholm crowd the home pack steamrolled the Limerick-based outfit with a pair of driving lineouts which gave Kvesic his brace.

But Gloucester did not let up with Trinder making a superb outside break before offloading from the deck for Stooke to crash over.

Burns added the extras and replavcement Stooke grabbed a second try following a delightful slight of hand from Sione Kalamafoni before Cian Bohane grabbed a late consolation.

Gloucester: R Cook (S McColl 54), C Sharples (H Purdy 64), H Trinder (T Isaacs 64), B Twelvetrees (M Atkinson 66) J May (S Monahan 71); J Hook (B Burns 59), G Laidlaw (C Braley 50); D Murphy (Y Thomas 50),, R Hibbard (D Dawidiuk 50), J Afoa (S Puafisi 50), T Savage (R Moriarty 61), J Hudson (E Stooke 50), S Kalamafoni, M Kvesic (J Rowan 64), B Morgan (T Palmer 50).

Tries: Penalty, B Twelvetrees, M Kvesic (2), E Stooke (2); Cons – J Hook (2), B Burns; Pens – J Hook (3)

Munster: S Fitzgerald (G O’Shea 68); R O’Mahony (R Murphy 64), C Bohane, I Dineen (R Foley 54), D Sweetnam; J Holland (D Johnston 64), D Williams (C Sheridan 40); A Cotter (J Ryan 40), G Slattery, BJ Botha, D O’Callaghan (capt), S McCarthy, S Buckley, B O’Mahony, CJ Stander (J Madigan 54)

Try: C Bohane; Pen – J Holland.

Referee: G Garner.

Attendance: 12, 790.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28818367

Gloucester Rugby: David Humphreys is pleased with story so far