Gloucester win Euro Challenge Cup

Gloucester survived the sending-off of centre Bill Meakes to beat Edinburgh 19-13 in the European Challenge Cup Final at Harlequins' Twickenham Stoop ground in London on Friday.

The Cherry and Whites were in command at 19-6 up in the 63rd minute when French referee Jerome Garces, acting on the advice of his television match official, dismissed Meakes after replays showed he had caught Sam Beard with a high, off the ball, tackle.

Gloucester were briefly down to 13 men, with Ross Moriarty already in the sin-bin, and Edinburgh, laying siege to the English club's line, saw Scotland hooker Ross Ford plunge under the posts for a converted try.

But Gloucester, with Scotland scrumhalf and former Edinburgh favourite Greig Laidlaw kicking 14 points, in addition to skipper Billy Twelvetrees' try, held on.

Gloucester's victory gave them their first trophy since the 2011 Anglo-Welsh Cup and was their second Challenge Cup success after they beat London Irish in another Stoop Final eight years ago.

Their win ended Edinburgh's bid to become the first Scottish club to win a European trophy.

Gloucester are now set to go into a play-off with a Pro12 side next month, possibly against Edinburgh, with the winners of that game facing the seventh-placed French Top 14 club for a spot in next season's elite European Champions Cup.

Edinburgh, who thrashed Newport Gwent Dragons 45-16 in the semifinal, took an early lead when scrumhalf Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, vying to take the Scotland No. 9 shirt off Laidlaw, kicked a penalty after an infringement by New Zealand prop John Afoa.

But Laidlaw responded in kind when Edinburgh were caught offside.

The only try of the first half came in the 11th minute.

Former England lock Tom Palmer won a line-out on half-way and a well-timed pass from flyhalf James Hook saw the Wales exile release England's Jonny May, the man-of-the-match, on the runaround.

The wing burst through some weak defence before delivering an excellent pass to Twelvetrees that allowed the England centre to run in under the posts from 20 yards out.

Laidlaw added the simple conversion and Gloucester led 10-3.

Gloucester, who beat west country rivals Exeter 30-19 in the semifinals, almost had a second try when another scything run by May ended with him being tap-tackled just short of the line by Edinburgh No.8 Cornell du Preez.

May's attempted pass didn't go to hand and Gloucester lock Anton Bresler was sent to the sin-bin by Garces for killing the ball on his own line.

Gloucester took several scrum penalties from five metres out yet Edinburgh, despite being down to 14 men, held out.

Indeed in the 10 minutes Bresler was off the field, Edinburgh 'won' 3-0, with Hidalgo-Clyne kicking another penalty in the 34th minute, only for Laidlaw to hit back almost immediately from the re-start.

On the stroke of half-time, Hidalgo-Clyne had a chance to narrow the gap but his third penalty, from way out on the left, was off target and Gloucester led 13-6 at the interval.

By contrast Laidlaw's third successful penalty gave Gloucester a 10-point advantage early in the second half.

And in the 52nd minute, Laidlaw landed a penalty from half-way to leave Gloucester on top at 19-6.

Gloucester, however, were down to 14 men in the 56th minute when Moriarty was sent to the sin-bin for appearing to knee Edinburgh replacement Fraser McKenzie.

But they finished the stronger and by the time Laidlaw was off target, when he missed a penalty with the last kick of the game, Gloucester's job was done.

Man of the match: Billy Twelvetrees and Ross Ford may have scored the tries, but Jonny May gets our award. The speedy Gloucester wing made 109 metres and beat five defenders.

Moment of the match: The most crucial moment came in the 63rd minute, when Gloucester centre Billy Meakes was red-carded for a late and high tackle on opposite number Sam Beard. It meant Gloucester were down to 13 men for about two minutes – after teammate Ross Moriarty picked up a yellow card for a needless knee in the back of Edinburgh replacement Fraser McKenzie at a ruck on half-way. Edinburgh took advantage immediately, with Ross Ford powering over for a converted try to get Edinburgh back into the game – a 19-6 lead suddenly became a 19-13 lead. It was game on.

Villains of the match: Edinburgh lock Anton Bresler's yellow card was just a professional foul, a desperate act to save a try. Gloucester flank Ross Moriarty was far more cynical when he was sin-binned for a needless knee in the back of Edinburgh replacement Fraser McKenzie. He joins teammate Billy Meakes, who was shown a straight red card for a late and high tackle on opposite centre Sam Beard.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:

Try: Ford

Con: Hidalgo-Clyne

Pens: Hidalgo-Clyne 2

For Gloucester:

Try: Twelvetrees

Con: Laidlaw

Pens: Laidlaw 4

Yellow cards: Anton Bresler (Edinburgh, 25 – professional foul, killing the ball), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester, 55 – foul play, knee in the back of an opponent)

Red card: Bill Meakes (Gloucester, 63 – foul play, dangerous tackle)

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Sam Beard 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Mike Coman (captain), 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.

Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 John Andress, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Tom Brown.

Gloucester: 15 Charlie Sharples, 14 Jonny May, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Henry Purdy, 10 James Hook, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Nick Wood.

Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Sila Puafisi , 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Billy Burns , 23 Steve McColl.

Referee: Jerome Garces (France)

Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzere (France), Mathieu Raynal (France),

TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

Agence France-Presse & @rugby365com