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At the end of a week, when Danny Cipriani left a club for the fifth time, Gloucester’s entertainment value did not diminish, as they emerged victorious in a wonderful and crazy match that they had already won and lost. If neither party offered much proof that they will challenge for the Exeter title, it was a release from the fall grind, even if it sometimes lived up to a floor advertisement for the comedy theater.
One example came at the end of a period in which Gloucester had a two-man lead, with Rob Herring and Alan O’Connor in the trash for taking down driving mauls that were close to the Ulster line. It’s a sign of where the modern game is at that the home team struggled to adjust to their numerical superiority, unable to catch the ball for five minutes and then failing to reach breadth.
Herring and O’Connor were standing on the touchline when Lloyd Evans, the first option out of the half after Cipriani’s departure, threw a pass without looking and it bounced off Jordie Reid. The wing picked up the ball and threw it towards Evans, who caught it and was quickly penalized. John Cooney decided to burn off the remaining seconds of sin-bin by aiming at the posts from within his own half. As he approached the ball, it flipped over and Gloucester received a scrum.
It was a game in which both sides enjoyed periods of supremacy without taking control. Gloucester got off to a strong start when Chris Harris evaded Ulster midfield to 45 meters and started a play that ended with Mark Atkinson floating a long pass, giving Louis Rees-Zammit a chance to gallop before riding Matt’s tackles. Faddes and Sean. Reidy.
Ulster leveled off in four minutes. Billy Burns, returning to Kingsholm, spotted Atkinson running too far on defense and entered the space that the center had cleared.
Both teams lost their first round matches and took advantage of the opportunities while fighting for everything. Gloucester regained the lead on an Evans penalty before finding salvation through the maul. Herring saw yellow after Atkinson was in possession when the running backs joined in, but it was O’Connor’s offense that was deemed worthy of a penalty attempt.
The game was there for Gloucester, but they are not a team to make their fans feel safe. Ulster scored the only points when they dropped to 13 on a Cooney penalty after Ciaran Knight fell on center Stuart McCloskey after the whistle blew.
When Atkinson finished off a driving maul two minutes after the restart after Evans’ long penalty kick, the hosts were 14 points ahead.
Surely not even Gloucester could ruin it. They tried and almost succeeded. Cipriani was not known for his tackle, but the home defense was not more confident in his absence. When Cooney fired from a ruck and found number 8, Nick Timoney, Lowry leapt into space and finished from 35 meters.
Ulster felt vulnerability. They were tied before the time Rees-Zammit deliberately struck the ball near his line with James Hume free to the right, although the TMO had to convince the referee that the act was worthy of a penalty try and a yellow card.
Cooney’s 45-meter penalty in 65 minutes put Ulster ahead for the first time and the scrum-half secured a bonus point with a break from within his own half.
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Just when they thought it was all over, Ethan McIlroy became the fourth player to visit the sin-bin after slapping Rees-Zammit’s scoring pass to Kyle Moyle just after going in with three minutes to go.
The third penalty trial of the game galvanized Gloucester and this time they knew how to work a numerical advantage. After a series of advances, they moved the ball for George Barton to solve a crazy competition.
“We are still a long way from where we want to be, but unity and hard work are laying the foundation,” said coach George Skivington.
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