Pool Two/Edinburgh - 14 Gloucester - 31:Gloucester arrived here yesterday nursing little more than an arithmetical hope of progressing into the knockout phase of the European Cup but returned home infused with dreams of an improbable resurrection after this impressive victory over a dogged but ultimately lightweight Edinburgh side.
Four converted tries, the last coming from Olly Morgan with just five minutes left on the clock, gave Dean Ryan's side a maximum five points and lifted them into second place in Pool Two, four points behind Leinster. More intriguingly, it set up the possibility of an Anglo-Irish showdown at Kingsholm in a month's time. One for the ages, or at least one for those seeking empirical evidence to bring to the debate about the relative strength of the Premiership and the Magners Celtic League.
"If we can keep the gap to four points then, yes, it will be a pretty special game," Ryan conceded yesterday but, as he was quick to point out, there are some obstacles to overcome before that match, not least his team's need to secure a victory at Agen in their next game. This is hardly a given, not least because the French won at Kingsholm in October.
Yet it is hard to believe Gloucester will play as badly a second time round, especially when there will be so much at stake.
Despite Gloucester having most of the possession in the opening exchanges, it was Edinburgh who came closest to scoring first when Marcus Di Rollo intercepted a Ryan Lamb pass and ran the length of the pitch before being hauled down three yards short of the try line. Chris Paterson dived over with the ball but was adjudged to have knocked the ball on - an inexplicable decision by the French referee Roman Poite, whose inconsistent decisions did little to enhance the game's fluency.
Lamb made amends for his mistake with a 10th-minute penalty to give his team a 3-0 lead but it took another 25 minutes for the visitors to capitalise on their evident physical superiority. Even then, they required some extra help from Edinburgh's Scott Murray, who got himself sin-binned for persistent fouling.
Gloucester's backs cashed in within a minute, picking up a loose ball inside the Edinburgh 22 and sweeping it across the line for Luke Narraway to score in the corner.
The home side reduced the deficit to three points soon after the break when Alasdair Strokosch scored from close in and Paterson converted. Then Gloucester, with some good play from the replacement Willie Walker, allied with some risible defending by Edinburgh's Ben Cairns, let Mike Tindall score just inside the dead-ball line after 59 minutes. From there on it was simply a case of Edinburgh keeping things respectable, while Gloucester were intent on securing the bonus point. The third try came with just over 10 minutes remaining. Mark Foster and Tindall exchanged passes before Anthony Allen cruised in under the posts. The match was won and so, too, was the bonus, when Walker broke from his own half before releasing Morgan to touch down. Cairns scored a consolation try for the home team in injury time.
"Gloucester were far more clinical than us and we made it more easy for them by throwing the ball away in contact too often," said the Edinburgh coach Lynn Howells.
He added: "As far as the remainder of this tournament is concerned, we will be taking it very seriously. We now face Leinster and Agen, so we can still have a big say in the outcome of the group."
EDINBURGH: Southwell; Paterson (capt), Di Rollo (Dey, 72), Easson, Cairns; Godman (Hodge, 75), Blair (Senio, 61); Jacobsen, Hall (Kelly, 75), Dickinson (Hewett, 67); Mustchin (Pringle, 75), Murray; Strokosch, MacDonald, Taylor (Callam, 49).
GLOUCESTER: Balshaw (Morgan, 71); Simpson-Daniel, Tindall, Allen, Foster; Lamb (Walker, 52), Lawson (Richards, 64); Wood (Califano, 60), Azam (Elloway, 57), Nieto; Bortolami (capt), Brown; Buxton, Hazell, Narraway (Balding 71).
Referee: R Poite (France).
Guardian Service
