Yahoo News Gloucester book place in the Challenge Cup semi-final with gritty win over Ospreys
Gloucester Rugby booked their place in European Challenge Cup semi-final with a 23-13 win over Ospreys in front of a raucous crowd at Kingsholm on Friday night, with full-back Santiago Carreras kicking six penalties to steer his side one step closer to the final at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium
The deserved victory earned them a home semi-final against the winners of the Benetton v Connacht fixture in the first weekend of May. Hooker Seb Blake, who returned from an injury, scored their only try to reward the home pack who crucially shaded the forward battle by placing Ospreys under pressure in both scrum and line-out with player of the match Ruan Ackermann and Zach Mercer punching holes in their defence.
Keelan Giles scored an excellent try for the Welsh side with former Gloucester player Owen Williams adding two penalties and a conversion but they will rue their ill-discipline on the night as they were penalised at will by the French referee Pierre Brousset.
A simple penalty from Carreras gave Gloucester an early lead but they soon fell behind to a superb try. On half-way, Adam Hastings over-hit a chip ahead, which Jack Walsh collected at pace to run 45 metres before providing Giles with an easy run-in.
Williams converted before Carreras kicked his second penalty to leave his side trailing 7-6 at the end of a competitive first quarter.
A poor straight into touch clearance from Stephen Varney then gifted the visitors an attacking platform from where Williams extended his side’s lead with a straightforward penalty. Ospreys’ line-out was a source of concern for them losing three on their own throw in the first 25 minutes and they were made to pay when Blake finished off a driving line-out.
Carreras missed the touchline conversion but succeeded with his third penalty after Ospreys had made his task easier by losing 10 metres for back chat to the referee. With the last kick of the half, Williams booted his second penalty to leave Gloucester with a 14-13 advantage at the interval.
After a restart, a poor kick from Walsh when under no pressure lost his side 50 metres but flanker Harri Deaves won a crucial penalty at the breakdown to relieve the pressure. Gloucester lost centre Max Llewellyn to injury but they overcame that to collect the first points of the second half with another penalty from Carreras.
An elusive breakaway from Luke Morgan won the Welsh Region a penalty but Williams’ kick rebounded back off a post. Williams was made to pay for his miss as Carreras was soon on target with his fifth as Ospreys’ skipper continued to debate decisions with referee Pierre Brousset.
Brousset was quickly signalling another penalty in Gloucester’s favour, this time from a scrum, and again Carreras made no mistake to send the hosts into the semi-finals.
Gloucester Rugby: 15. Santiago Carreras, 14. Jonny May, 13. Max Llewellyn, 12. Seb Atkinson, 11. Jacob Morris, 10. Adam Hastings, 9. Stephen Varney, 1. Jamal Ford-Robinson, 2. Seb Blake, 3. Kirill Gotovtsev, 4. Freddie Clarke, 5. Freddie Thomas, 6. Ruan Ackermann, 7. Lewis Ludlow (c), 8. Zach Mercer
Replacements: 16. Santiago Socino, 17. Mayco Vivas, 18. Fraser Balmain, 19. Albert Tuisue, 20. Jack Clement, 21. Caolan Englefield, 22. Charlie Atkinson, 23. Chris Harris
Ospreys : 15. Jack Walsh, 14. Luke Morgan, 13. Keiran Williams, 12. Owen Watkin, 11. Keelan Giles, 10. Owen Williams, 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams, 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Sam Parry, 3. Tom Botha, 4. James Ratti, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Harri Deaves, 7. Justin Tipuric (c), 8. Morgan Morris
Replacements: 16. Lewis Lloyd, 17. Nicky Smith, 18. Rhys Henry, 19. Huw Sutton, 20. Morgan Morse, 21. Luke Davies, 22. Dan Edwards, 23. Max Nagy
Referee: Pierre Brousset (Fra)
Assistant referees: Tual Trainini (Fra) and Jeremy Rozier (Fra)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (Fra)
