Gloucester firmly on rebuilding course
Matt Kvesic believes Gloucester's rebuilding project is firmly on course after the Cherry & Whites emerged as victors from a thrilling secondhalf against Exeter Chiefs.
The two West Country rivals have had contrasting fortunes so far this season, with the Chiefs taking the Premiership by storm after a series of impressive displays.
But Gloucester condemned them to a third league defeat on the bounce, as Ben Morgan scored what was ultimately the winning try, thanks to Greig Laidlaw's conversion, in the secondhalf at Sandy Park.
That however does not begin to tell half the story, with Gareth Steenson missing what could have been the match-winning conversion after a 70th-minute Thomas Waldrom try.
There were also three tries in three secondhalf minutes, Matt Jess and Jack Nowell for Exeter, and Tom Savage responding for the visitors, after a tentative firsthalf that saw just two Laidlaw penalties.
New management duo David Humphreys and Laurie Fisher have ripped up the script at Kingsholm, and after their fifth Premiership win of the season, flank Kvesic admits reaching their very best may have to wait until next year.
"It was excellent, winning makes a big difference but we're still in this rebuilding phase," said Kvesic, who impressed with his relentless work at the breakdown.
"We've only been together this half of the season, as we didn't really have a pre-season together. This year is a rebuilding one for us, and hopefully we can build some momentum and take it into the next.
"We showed we can chuck the ball around a little more and put together few more passes, which broke down Exeter who are a good defensive unit, so we're pleased about that.
"Firsthalf was excellent, they've got some big ball carriers who were hammering our line. We fronted up defensively very well and it was a top performance."
The result leaves the Chiefs vulnerable to relinquishing their fourth spot, as Leicester Tigers, Wasps and Sale Sharks could all leapfrog them on Sunday.
And head coach Rob Baxter says Exeter are still finding the right amount of consistency in order to truly be considered a Premiership heavyweight.
"I've said to the lads that if you want to play at the end of the league where the big boys play, you have to come in and play like a big boy because teams will come after you," he said.
"I don't think we did that at times, but at other times we did and showed great endeavour, and at times we let ourselves down.
"When we did wrestle the momentum of the game back with two quick-fire tries, the first thing we did was give it straight back to Gloucester with some very naive exit play. That's frustrating for me because it's been a strength of our game.
"I know why it's happened, it's because we had a focus on how we wanted to attack this week, we thought we were a bit rusty at Bath when the opportunities arose, so we spent a lot of time on it this week."
