Santiago Carreras kicks Gloucester into Challenge Cup semi-final after hard-fought win over Ospreys
Gloucester's Santiago Carreras kicking for goal.
Gloucester full-back Santiago Carreras starred with the boot as his side beat the Ospreys 23-13 to book their spot in the Challenge Cup semi-final.
The Argentina outside back kicked six penalties in an 18-point haul while Sebastian Blake crossed for the hosts’ only try in an attritional clash.
The visitors managed one well-worked try through wing Keelan Giles while fly-half Owen Williams kicked two penalties and a conversion as they fell short of the mark at Kingsholm Stadium.
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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 ARE INTO THE #ChallengeCupRugby SEMI-FINALS!! #GLOvOSP pic.twitter.com/WCMvO5faw8
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) April 12, 2024
The teams
Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Jonny May, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Jake Morris, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Freddie Thomas, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Jamal Ford-Robinson
Replacements: 16 Santi Socino, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Albert Tuisue, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Caolan Engelfield, 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, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Harri Deaves, 5 Adam Beard, 4 James Ratti, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Gareth Thomas
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 (France)
Assistant Referees: Tual Trainini (France), Jeremy Rozier (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)
