19 points from the boot of youngster Freddie Burns helped Gloucester to a 29-22 Premiership win over London Wasps at Kingsholm on Saturday.
Two penalties from Burns and a converted James Simpson-Daniel try gave the hosts a ten-point lead after Wasps had gained the early advantage through Stephen Jones that put them 3-0 up.
Sione Kalamafoni's then scored on 28 minutes, followed two minutes later by a Elliot Daly try for London Wasps which made it the score 20-13.
Burns then added three more penalties, Jones kicked two of his own and replacement Nick Robinson's three-pointer sealed what may be a vital bonus-point for the Adams Park outfit.
It was a pulsating game, with the hosts never able to shake off their visitors but they managed to survive three minutes of late panic for victory.
With former Cheetahs and Springbok back-rower Ashley Johnson shining, it was the Wasps who got the first points on the board thanks to the relentless accurate kicking by Jones.
Gloucester then stirred into life with two scores as wing Simpson-Daniel weaved his way past four tackles to dive over, followed by Kalamafoni capitalising on the sleepy defence.
Wasps looked dead and buried at 20-3, but Daly scored a dazzling try from the right and his side only trailed by seven at the interval after a long kick by Tommy Bell sneaked over.
Burns completed his penalty hat-trick following the break to restore a ten-point lead, but Gloucester's indiscipline led to two more Jones strikes either side of a fourth from Burns.
Wasps weren't helped when skipper Marco Wentzel was sin-binned for a technical offence, and despite a late flurry of attacks they were unable to unlock Gloucester's gritty defence.
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Simpson-Daniel, Kalamafoni
Con: Burns 2
Pen: Burns 5
For Wasps:
Try: Daly
Con: Jones
Pen: Jones 3, Bell, Robinson
Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Jonny May, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 James Simpson-Daniel, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Ben Morgan. 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Jim Hamilton (c), 4 Tom Savage, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Will James, 20 Akapusi Qera, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Mike Tindall, 23 Martyn Thomas.
London Wasps: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 James Haskell, 5 Marco Wentzel (c), 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Zak Taulafo, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Fabio Staibano, 19 James Cannon, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Nick Robinson, 23 Jack Wallace.
Referee: Martin Fox
Assistant referees: Nigel Carrick, Andrew Watson
Television match official: Graham Hughes
Timekeeper: Eric Bullion
Assessor: Brian Campsall
Comments
kybone says...
sirtidychris- I agree that there are more Gloucester that deserve an England call. If i were looking for a reason for these players not being picked it would be that, despite being good to watch and capable of giving the best of sides a hiding, Gloucester often crumble when it comes to the crunch.
Posted 10:56 23rd September 2012
sirtidychris says...
ArmchairGeneral
Will never happen Burns, May and Twelvetrees play for Gloucester which for some reason dont get picked by England ??
Posted 20:46 22nd September 2012
melkdave says...
Wonderful game,with both sides looking to attack,2 top class tries ,and some very good performances by some England up an comming youngsters.Burns and 12tress looked promising along with May in the backs for Gloucester,and we can see N.Davies putting his stamp on the team,offloading at pace ect was excellant,and Harden and Wood looked very good in the frontrow.For WaspsE.Dalily looked good and both Wade and Vanipolio had industrious games.
Posted 18:11 22nd September 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
Please please please get Burns in England 15
Posted 17:49 22nd September 2012