Gloucester v Harlequins: Five takeaways as ‘Welsh connection’ serves Cherry and Whites well while England hopeful puts in ‘absolutely outstanding’ showing

James While
Josh Hathaway and Jack Clement impressed for Gloucester against Harlequins.

Josh Hathaway and Jack Clement impressed for Gloucester against Harlequins.

Following a 14-0 victory for Gloucester over Harlequins in their Premiership clash on Friday, here’s James While’s five takeaways from the fixture at Kingsholm.

The top line

A sell-out Kingsholm crowd saw Gloucester pull off an impressive win as the Cherry and Whites delivered a precision display of defence and aerial rugby to delight their home supporters.

First-half tries from the outstanding Josh Hathaway and England back-row hopeful Jack Clement were enough to seal the win as Tomos Williams rolled back the years with a half-back masterclass and Afo Fasogbon spent the first 30 minutes of the match destroying anything in white and green.

With Gareth Anscombe also shining, using his siege gun boot to huge effect down the touchlines, the Welsh connection served Gloucester well as both half-backs gave the hosts a real platform and territorial surety that Quins simply couldn’t match.

For George Skivington, a man beleaguered by a string of close losses last season, the turnaround is testimony to his recalibration of the Gloucester DNA, a return to the traditional qualities of the Cherry and Whites and some real ambition with ball in hand.

Gloucester basics shine

Gloucester’s rejuvenation this season has been largely based upon getting speed and accuracy into their kicking game and defence, and it was their aerial precision combined with real abrasion in defence that was at the heart of this impressive win against a fully loaded Harlequins, hoping to grab a rare win on the road before Christmas.

Led by some pinpoint kicking from Williams combined with some spirited chasing from the back three of Santiago Carreras, Christian Wade and the outstanding Hathaway, the hosts targeted the airways along the flanks, winning the lion’s share of the contest, but crucially, controlling the drop zone and retention thereafter. Williams has been at the heart of everything Gloucester have done well this season and was the key man in getting the Cherry and Whites into red zone positions, notably playing a lead role in both first-half tries. One tactic of note is how Gloucester bring Carreras into 10 and move Anscombe back to 15 when the box kick is initiated, maximising the pace and aerial ability of the Puma flyer.

The defensive line, a 3B rush system, had the blitz, barge and big hits that D coaches rave about, but even when Quins broke through the primary line the commitment of the secondary scramble all but closed down any attacking opportunity.

With two thirds of the Quins back-row, Chandler Cunningham-South, who had a particularly poor day at the office, and Alex Dombrandt, current England Test players, the work of the Gloucester trio, Lewis Ludlow, Ruan Ackermann and the absolutely outstanding Clement simply dominated the breakdown and as much as many will talk about attacking ambition, it’s the improvement of the basics of rugby that’s underpinning the Gloucester resurgence.

Uncharacteristic Quins

Harlequins are a side that embrace chaos and strive for pace of thought and foot, but this was a match where both of those qualities deserted them.

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Without their usual scrum platform, and beasted at the breakdown, they simply lacked the direction and collision winning presence in the centres to give any space to their mercurial runners. Time and time again Marcus Smith was shipped slow ball as he was on the back foot, giving him little chance of breaking the organised and oncoming defence. He was boxing against shadows at the back, never quite able to break the shackles of the Gloucester blitz, and, despite some promising moments from Oscar Beard, lacked a midfield cohort to break the hosts down, either through guile or through grit.

The sheer number of unforced handling errors by Quins – some 23 in all – demonstrated clearly the lack of space Quins had to operate in. With only four clean breaks in the game, it was always going to be a tough day at the office, but that lack of midfield oomph was evident for Quins and if they’re to play the way they aspire, finding Smith a bludgeon to go alongside his rapier is a key issue for them.

Scrum battle

Anyone who pitched up to Kingsholm for this game was aware that Fasogbon is some prospect, but perhaps didn’t expect the young tyro tighthead to deliver such a rounded performance in the first 30 minutes of this match, before he limped off with a concerning leg injury.

We’re aware of his scrummaging – and up against another young propping gun Fin Baxter, a man already in double figures of Test caps, you might expect the Harlequin to just shade the adolescent battle of brawn, but not many were prepared to see Fasogbon completely dismantle the visiting loosehead in the manner he did. Strong, straight and aggressive, he had Baxter in all sorts of problems, with the Quin losing binds, supporting weight with his hand on his own knee and getting split out from his hooker on a number of occasions.

But it didn’t stop there as Fasogbon treated the Kingsholm faithful to melting tackles, ruck clearouts that almost evaporated the Quins breakdown, and of course, some mighty boshes through the close defence that almost resulted in the opening try of the match.

With Ciaran Knight, called off the bench five minutes before kick off when Val Rapava-Ruskin pulled out, also impressing in the tight, and Seb Blake having a lovely pre-Christmas romp in the loose, it’s safe to say that for all the wonderful improvement in Gloucester’s back play this season, their scrum is as fearsome as ever, much to the delight of the festivities in The Shed and it was a great shame that young Afo starred only for 30 minutes before his injury, but it was enough to conclude that, fitness permitting, he will travel to Dublin with England in the first weekend of February.

Test watch

Outside of the obvious 30 minutes from Fasogbon, the onlooking England set-piece coach Tom Harrison couldn’t but have failed to be impressed by Clement and Ackermann’s power in the Gloucester back-row, although it’s rumoured that Ackermann is considered short of a yard for the highest level.

At 12 for the Cherry and Whites, Seb Atkinson led the rush defence with intelligence and impact, whilst one of his opponents, Beard at outside centre, was easily the most impressive Quin with ball in hand, showing some real gas in transition on a number of occasions.

But the real stand out wasn’t a man of English heritage, but more so a player from the other side of the Severn estuary, Hathaway, who had a stunner of a game on the right wing. Aside from his obvious finishing ability, it was his aerial skills that shone, giving Williams, Anscombe and Carreras a target to work with and dominating the ‘third set-piece’ as he gave Cadan Murley a lesson in kick chase excellence.

READ MORE: ‘Sweeney clearly needs to go’ – Former RFU boss slams bonus ‘disaster’ as he likens governing body to water companies

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