Teenage fly-half Ioan Lloyd showed just why he is being touted as a potential future great with a nerveless 41m kick in the 74th minute to win an enthralling West Country derby for Bristol Bears, 17-18.
Whereas Bristol let a winning position slip late last week to lose to Sale Sharks, they came from behind to beat a dogged and determined Gloucester Rugby side who look to be heading in the right direction despite still sitting bottom of the table after Round Nine of the 2020/21 Gallagher Premiership.
With relegation officially scrapped this campaign, that now means less than it did.
The trick for George Skivington’s Cherry and Whites will now be turning these agonsing narrow defeats into victories. As it is the Rifles Cup - which is competed for between these two West Country giants whenever they meet - stays at Ashton Gate as the balance of power has swung in favour of Pat Lam’s side.
The first half was a case of attack against defence as top-of-the table Bristol Bears used all the tricks up their sleeve to try and open up a defiant Gloucester side who seem to revel in their work without the ball.
However the first try came in familiar fashion as the Bears’ organised catch and drive maul slowly chugged its way over the line from 5m out for Bryan Bryne to touch down after Billy Twelvetrees had given away a needless penalty at the ruck to allow the visitors within striking distance..
However the sharp defensive skills of Santiago Carreras saw Gloucester turn the game on its head not once but twice as the Argentina international first picked off a pass from Premiership player of the month Piers O’Conor and then former Tonga captain Siale Piutau to run in two tries from inside his own half and give the Cherry and Whites the lead.
But Bristol finally got their breakthrough in open play through Gloucester’s Achilles Heel on the night, the line out. After a steal at the set piece area Nathan Hughes carried powerfully down the wing to suck in defenders before smooth, sharp, zippy passing worked the ball to Jake Heenan who broke through centre field.
The flanker had passing options either side of him but in the end threw a dummy and raced in to score another try fit for a Barbarians highlights reel.
That made it 12-12 at the break.
Despite temperatures touching -6 at Kingsholm both sides played some scorching rugby at times in the second half.
Willi Heinz was given a torrid night at the ruck as Bristol targeted Gloucester’s failure to commit numbers at the breakdown to counter ruck like demons, with man of the match Dan Thomas charging down the England scrum half and haranguing him throughout.
However Gloucester looked sharpest when Heinz upped the pace, and a quick tap penalty and some fluent passing through the hands put winger Ollie Thorley over for a well deserved try in the 51st minute.
It was the England winger’s first try of the season but he looked menacing with every touch of the ball.
But Bristol hit back with an almost instant penalty from the boot of Lloyd who was put into a position to win the game late in the day.
Gloucester Rugby: 15. Jason Woodward 14. Santiago Carreras 13. Henry Trinder 12. Mark Atkinson 11. Ollie Thorley 10. Billy Twelvetrees 9. Willi Heinz 1. Val Rapava-Ruskin 2. Henry Walker 3. Fraser Balmain 4. Matt Garvey 5. Matias Alemanno 6. Jamie Gibson 7. Lewis Ludlow (c) 8. Freddie Clarke
Replacements: 16. Santiago Socino 17. Alex Seville 18. Jamal Ford-Robinson 19. Alex Craig 20. Ben Morgan 21. Charlie Chapman 22. Giorgi Kveseladze 23. Kyle Moyle
Bristol Bears: 15. Charles Piutau; 14. Luke Morahan, 13. Piers O’Conor, 12. Siale Piutau, 11. Henry Purdy; 10. Ioan Lloyd, 9. Andy Uren; 1. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2. Bryan Byrne, 3. John Afoa (c), 4. Dave Attwood, 5. Chris Vui, 6. Jake Heenan, 7. Dan Thomas, 8. Nathan Hughes.
Replacements : 16. Will Capon, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. Jake Armstrong, 19. Ed Holmes, 20. Fitz Harding, 21. Tom Kessell, 22. Sam Bedlow, 23. Alapati Leiua.
Referee: Tom Foley (89th Premiership game).
Assistant Referees: Simon Harding & Simon McConnell.
TMO: David Rose.
Citing Officer: Grant Seely.
