Humphreys – ‘We just didn’t have any possession’

Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys blamed their Challenge Cup final defeat by Stade Français on not having enough possession.

The Cherry and Whites lost 25-17 at Murrayfield on Friday after coming second in the possession and territorial stakes.

Humphreys believes it was not just a case of his side not being able to get their hands on the ball but also because they were dominated at the set-pieces by the French side.

Gloucester went into an early 10-point lead through Jonny May's opportunistic intercept try but Sergio Parisse's response levelled things just before the sides went into the break.

Stade Français asserted their dominance in the second-half with tries from centres Jonathan Danty and Geoffrey Doumayrou. Ross Moriarty scored a late consolation try for the English side but by then it was a little too late.

"It's very, very hard to play any sort of rugby when you have no ball, when your set-piece is under pressure, and I thought Stade put us under massive pressure at set-piece," said Humphreys.

"One thing you can never question about this team is the character, the determination, and they defended magnificently for large periods of the game.

"But against a team as good as Stade, at one point you are going to slip a tackle if we can't keep the ball. Ultimately we just didn't have any possession.

"We had two set-pieces in the Stade Français half the whole game, one scrum, one lineout, and our game has been built around good field positions. We were under pressure and our penalty count was high. 

"We couldn't put Stade under pressure in the same way they were making us defend for long periods.

"There were three things – lack of field position, lack of quality set-piece delivery and too many penalties – (which) cost us the opportunity to win the game."

Stade Français captain Parisse was part of two of his club's four defeats in European finals so the veteran Italian was delighted with their first success.

The number eight said: "I am very proud and very happy for the team, the group and the club."