Gloucester v Exeter: Five takeaways as Lions hopeful ‘dazzles’ for ‘spellbinding’ 13-try Cherry and Whites
Tomos Williams took a starring role for Gloucester in their win over Exeter.
Following Gloucester’s 79-17 win over Exeter in Round 15 of the Premiership, here are our five key takeaways from Kingsholm.
The top line
With results elsewhere, this felt like a must-win for Gloucester if they stood any chance of keeping up with the rest of the play-off chasers.
And, they started with that sort of intensity too. A fine break from Santi Carreras opened the Chiefs’ defence up, but it was Jack Clement who made the most of it as he flopped over from the base of a maul to give Gloucester the lead inside 10 minutes.
Despite losing Val Rapava-Ruskin to injury, Gloucester’s forward dominance continued as Seb Blake crossed from yet another maul.
In the blink of an eye, Gloucester already had their bonus-point thanks to a quick-fire double. Lewis Ludlow was on hand for the first, as he pounced on Gareth Anscombe’s fortuitous hack-kick, and Chris Harris swiftly followed as he finished off a fine break put in place by Tomos Williams.
If it wasn’t already in ‘by how many’ territory, Seb Atkinson’s try took it there as he raced through a gaping hole to score his side’s fifth.
Anscombe was the latest to add his name to the try-scorers column, before Josh Hodge finally ended the one-way traffic with Exeter’s first.
But, Gloucester’s dominance continued as Williams added his side’s seventh of the half – yes, half – after a brilliant combination with Jake Morris.
The tries kept coming after the break too, with Jamal Ford-Robinson and Wigan Warriors-bound Christian Wade adding the eighth and ninth of the afternoon for their team.
Replacement Jack Singleton nabbed his side’s 11th and 12th, with the second the pick of the pair thanks to a lovely acrobatic dive in the corner.
Things quickly got worse for Exeter too, if they could even get that low. Hodge had a second try ruled out for a forward pass in the build-up, Will Haydon-Wood was sent to the sin-bin, and then Singleton completed his hat-trick.
Adding a little bit of shine to the scoreboard, the Chiefs hit with two tries late on as Will Rigg and Haydon-Wood crossed the whitewash, but it was still Gloucester’s day.
Top four hunt still on
The manner of the win aside, this was an important five points for Gloucester, given results elsewhere this weekend. They now put Gloucester up to 46, just one point behind near-neighbours Bristol Bears in fourth, but the mammoth points tally also gives them a nice cushion should they overtake their rivals in the table.
Skivington’s side also have a pretty favourable run-in too, facing out-of-form Harlequins, Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints in their final three games of the season.
Advantage Gloucester in the play-off push?
Ridiculous Gloucester
Gloucester were utterly spellbinding in this mammoth win, tearing Exeter apart in every department.
Up front, the Cherry and Whites old-maned the Chiefs. Strong carries from the likes of Ruan Ackermann, Clement and Blake set the tone in the loose, but it was their maul that really got them some nice rewards. Their opening two scores came directly from driving mauls, with Clement and Blake getting their names on the scoreboard, and they also managed to milk some penalties in midfield too.
That was just the start of things though, as they used that platform to turn it on in the backline. Scrum-half Williams dazzled with passes and offloads that would have made Sonny Bill Williams blush, but around him the likes of Anscombe and Carreras just effortlessly pulled the strings and created something whenever they touched the ball, allowing the rest of the backline to sparkle as a result.
Exeter, when they could hold onto the ball, did threaten with a couple of breaks, but Gloucester showed some serious defensive steel to hold them out, too.
A performance like this doesn’t come around that often, but it’s exactly what this new Gloucester are capable of when everything clicks into gear. If they can replicate even part of this display in their final games, they will no doubt make the play-offs.
What’s even more remarkable is that this comes nearly a year since they lost 90-0 to Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens. What a difference a year makes, eh?
We need to talk about Tomos Williams
He got some flowers in the section above, but here I’m going to give him a bouquet. He was simply remarkable, yet again, for Gloucester today.
Everything he put his mind to today just seemed to work magic for the Cherry and Whites’ attack. Be it a ridiculous out-the-back pass, a basketball-esque offload, a cheeky kick, or just playing his usual role in generating quick-ball, he found himself firmly at the heart of everything good for Gloucester.
Fittingly, he was also named Man of the Match.
On a good weekend for the Lions scrum-half options, Williams has propelled himself up the list in our books. Magnificent display.
Hello darkness my old friend
Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
This was already a tough year for the Devonians, but this was by far the lowest point of the season. Missed tackles, errors and penalties; at every turn, Exeter just found ways to gift Gloucester the ball, and they made it count.
To Exeter’s credit, they didn’t submit to defeat, nor did they falter in their efforts, but it was just a crushing new low for the Chiefs.
The end of the season can’t come soon enough, you feel.
