Gloucester rescue Challenge crown
Forrester steals Challenge Cup for Cherry and Whites
A moment of magic from Jamie Forrester handed Gloucester the European Challenge Cup after a 36-34 extra-time victory over London Irish in a pulsating match at the Stoop on Sunday.
Forrester took the ball in the 92nd minute and produced an inch-perfect grubber kick, which he then hacked on into the in-goal zone for the winning try.
It rescued the match for Gloucester, who had seen a 31-19 lead whittled down in the final ten minutes of normal time, before Barry Everitt's penalty had given the Exiles the lead in the first period of extra-time.
It was everything the fans expected from the match, and then some again. Not only did both teams spread the ball at any opportunity, but also both displayed the iron face up front to go with the cutting edge behind.
The Exiles' comeback from what ought to have been a killer blow from James Simpson-Daniel was a thing of the ugliest beauty. Two tries, within eight minutes of each other, one born from seventeen phases of forward pick-and-drive possession, the other from ten.
The fans hid their disappointment at the anti-climactic nature of the venue and weather, and delivered a finale of raucous intensity every bit as gripping as the Munster faithful had brought to yesterday's game. ERC's officials should sit back this morning and reflect on how their tournaments have climaxed with huge grins on their faces. Long may weekends of this nature continue.
Andy Robinson will be less glad, perhaps, after witnessing another splendid performance from Ryan Lamb. The teenager was forced from the field with an injury ten minutes into the second half but once again pressed his claim for a call-up to England's senior team.
Every time Lamb is presented with a challenge, he seems to rise to it effortlessly. Goals were kicked with style, and balls were dispatched to the corners of the field as matter-of-fact.
A moment in the second half epitomised what he could bring beyond that first dimension as well. Scampering back to his own line chasing a kick from Delon Armitage, he could have let the ball go over the goal-line. Instead, he got impatient at the wait, picked the ball up, chipped both onrushing defenders, regathered, and then as he was tackled milliseconds later, twisted himself to offload straight into the waiting hands of his support. The whole graceful movement came so naturally to him, it was just sumptuous. Once again, a comparison should be drawn to the raw version of Dan Carter four years ago. Talent-wise, he is streets ahead of any other number ten in the land right now.
The Exiles drew first blood, with Barry Everitt doing precisely what he had been called upon to do: land penalties. He notched two out of two in the opening ten minutes, with Patrice Collazo driving in at the game's first scrum and a Gloucester forward caught offside five minutes later.
Gloucester had shown more cohesion and threat out wide up to then, with Peter Richards displaying why he had been afforded England's call and Lamb zipping out the passes. Eventually Gloucester were rewarded with the opening try after 12 minutes, with Mike Tindall's grubber pounced upon at the second attempt by Mark Foster. Lamb's touchline conversion in the wind was perfect.
Lamb made it 10-6 when Kieran Roche was penalised for a late tackle on Richards on the quarter-hour mark. It was a harsh call, and the Exiles' disapproval was exacerbated moments later by a nasty glancing elbow to the face of Everitt from Andy Hazell, who otherwise had a splendid game. the offence was not deemed punishable by the referee, but replays suggested otherwise.
Hazell was involved in a much more positive piece of play as the first quarter drew to a close, taking an inside ball from a line-out maul and ploughing over for Gloucester's second score. Lamb could not find his range with this conversion in the wet, but at 15-6, Gloucester were very much on the up.
But London Irish hit back immediately with Armitage climbing higher than Rob Thirlby to claim Everitt's cross-kick and touch down – like Foster, at the second attempt.
Everitt landed the conversion from wide on the left but Lamb, who had been holding his hamstring, responded with a penalty for Gloucester after an infringement at the lineout.
Lamb then produced a sublime kick to the corner, and moments later showed he is not short on cockiness either, throwing the ball into Juan Manuel Leguizamon's face after the Argentinian had tackled him a touch late.
Neither side made any changes at the interval and it was Irish who re-started more quickly with number eight Juan Leguizamon showing excellent awareness to feed Flutey on the burst.
The New Zealander could not keep his feet but the Exiles kept the pressure on and the ball came back for Everitt to slot a drop-goal.
Then came Lamb's moment of magic described above, but the tackle he passed out of also ended his participation in the game. He went off with a bloody mouth, replaced by Ludovic Mercier, and just two minutes later Leguizamon – who was not shy of putting himself about all game – was dispatched to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle on Richards.
That also was a harsh call on the Exiles, Leguizamon's biggest sin appeared to be the ferocity of the hit, which saw Richards bouncing off the shoulder before the No.8 could close his arms.
The Exiles dealt well with being a man down. Ojo almost picked off a weak pass intended for Simpson-Daniel but with a clear run to the try-line he juggled the ball and spilled it.
Mercier landed a penalty for Gloucester but it was cancelled out by Everitt, who made it 21-19.
Mercier immediately responded to that with his second penalty for Gloucester – stupidly conceded in front of his own posts by Sailosi Tagicakibau after running into a dead end – before Simpson-Daniel intercepted a wild pass from Exiles lock Bob Casey and sprinted over 50 metres to score under the posts.
The Exiles trailed 31-19 but refused to concede defeat, and set up one of this season's most gripping finales. At one point they had thirteen bodies committed to the move, with Gloucester conceding inches, then winning them back with a magnificent array of driving tackles. Eventually the Exiles got over the line, only to be denied by the television match official.
Back we came for an exiles penalty though, and off the third phase from that Olivier Magne sneaked over to make it 31-26.
Again the Irish drove from the restart. Mike Catt sent two huge kicks into the Gloucester 22, and on the second one Rob Thirlby was bundled into touch. From the line-out, the green shirts steamed into the ruck again. the red shirts put heads down and spread arms ready to tackle anything that moved. Ten more phases came and went, and the ball, somewhere under the shirts, inched towards the line, and then over it, with Robbie Russell pushing it into the turf.
A wide conversion with eighty seconds to go, and for once, Everitt's nerve failed him, the ball going well left. 31-31, and extra-time.
Neither team let up the intensity for a second. Irish gave their pack a respite by using the centres to strike, and then Everitt grubbered the ball ahead, with the chasers forcing Peter Richards over his own line.
More phases from the 5m scrum, with Leguizamon again peeling off from number eight to set the move up. Eventually Olivier Azam was caught killing the ball, and Everitt put the Irish in the lead from the penalty.
They held the lead until two minutes after the turnaround in the extra-time. Then out the ball came to Forrester on the short side, and he chipped ahead, ran onto his own ball, hacked ahead, and then used those long legs to stride to the bouncing ball in time.
Mercier could not convert though, and two minutes later Everitt went for the posts from 40m with a drop goal that missed by a whisker. then a penalty to the Exiles, but again, Everitt's nerve failed him and the ball went left. Leguizamon had an outrageous stab at dropping a goal from a returned clearance, but it was well wide, and as the Irish pack tried to engineer position for Everitt to do the honours again, the ball spilled forward, and time had run out.
Man of the match: Several contenders, Juan Manuel Leguizamon gave a sterling display of speed and power from number eight for London Irish, as did all eight of the Exiles pack. Topsy Ojo also belied his diminutive stature with a powerful display. For Gloucester Ryan Lamb was worth the admission money – sadly his early exit meant he could not shine enough – and James Simpson-Daniel was a livewire. Up front Mefin Davies shone in his twilight years, and Alex Brown, Andy Hazell and Jamie Forrester were all magnificent in defence. But for consistent moments of pure genius, Olivier Magne gets the accolade in defeat for a mature, composed, and skilful number seven display.
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Foster, Hazell, Simpson-Daniel, Forrester
Cons: Lamb, Mercier
Pens: Lamb 2, Mercier 2
For London Irish:
Tries: Armitage, Magne, Russell
Cons: Everitt 2
Pens: Everitt 3
Drop goal: Everitt
Yellow cards: Leguizamon (48, high tackle)
Gloucester: 15 Rob Thirlby, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Mark Foster, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Peter Richards, 8 James Forrester, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Peter Buxton (capt), 5 Alex Brown, 4 Jonathan Pendlebury, 3 Jack Forster, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Patrice Collazo.
Replacements: 16 Olivier Azam, 17 Gary Powell, 18 Adam Eustace, 19 Luke Narraway, 20 Haydn Thomas, 21Ludovic Mercier, 22 James Bailey.
London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Mike Catt (captain), 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Barry Everitt, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Olivier Magne, 6 Kieran Roche, 5 Nick Kennedy, 4 Bob Casey, 3 Richard Skuse, 2 Robbie Russell, 1 Neal Hatley.
Replacements: 16 Michael Collins, 17 David Paice, 18 Declan Danaher, 19 Phil Murphy, 20 Gonzalo Tiesi, 21 Ben Willis, 22 Shane Geraghty.
Referee: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Touch judges: Nigel Owens, tba (both Wales)
