Mostert: Gloucester's missing link
REACTION: It was clear that Johan Ackermann’s Gloucester missed Springboks lock Franco Mostert during their 20-25 defeat to Toulouse on Friday.
Scrumhalf Joe Simpson scored two outstanding runaway tries to give the English side a 20-9 half-time.
However, in the second half, the Premiership side saw very little possession courtesy of some crucial errors, especially in the line-outs. Consequently Toulouse regrouped, dominated proceedings and score 16 unanswered points for the Champions Cup win.
It was certainly evident that Ackermann’s side struggled without injured lock Ed Slater and Springboks Franco Mostert, who has yet to return following South Africa’s World Cup win.
The side lost seven of their 14 lineouts, while Toulouse secured 12 of their 14.
“I can’t fault the players for their effort,” Ackermann told GloucesterRugbyTV following the defeat to Toulouse.
“I felt they showed commitment and a desire to do well. We played with a lot of intensity and we were up for in. However, in the second half, there were just too many errors,”
He added: “In the last 20 minutes our line-outs really started to struggle and that gave them free possession – you will always struggle if you only have 20 percent ball,”
* For the full match report: CLICK HERE!!!
Next weekend Gloucester head to the south of France to take on Montpellier in round two of the Champions Cup and the good news for the Ackermann is that Mostert will return to training.
However, Ackermann revealed to the Gloucestershire Live, that he will have to consider whether to throw the Bok straight back into the side or ease him back into the swing of the things.
“We will see how he fits in, how he trains and everything,” said Ackermann told GloucestershireLive.
“He has a week to get back to the hang of things and then we will see where we are as a group and then make that choice, but it will be nice to know that he is back and available,”
“It is going to be a massive challenge against Montpellier and once we get out of there, then we will reassess where we are in the competition,” he added.
Sources: GloucesterRugby & GloucestershireLive
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