Gloucester Overpower Munster at Kingsholm

Gloucester put on a good show for their fans at Kingsholm. They overpowered Munster in all aspects of the game to take a 35 – 16 victory.

Gloucester put on a good show for their fans at Kingsholm. They overpowered Munster in all aspects of the game to take a 35 – 16 victory.

Gloucester were impressive all round, teenage winger Marcel Garvey, South African Flanker Jake Boer & Frenchman Ludovic Mercier showing Munster why Gloucester are top of the Zurich Premiership and that they are a real force to be reckoned with in the contention for the Heineken Cup.

From the outset, it looked as if both teams were evenly matched, Gloucester missed a chance to open the scoring in the 2nd minute with Ludovic Mercier sending a penalty kick right and wide. The first score of the game did not come until the 20th minute when Mercier made good on his first kick, kicking a penalty in front of the Munster posts. (3-0). Three minutes later O’Gara responded with a penalty kick against a stiff breeze, to level the score at 3-3,

Gloucester put pressure on the Munster line and were awarded another penalty, which Mercier tapped over to take the score to 6-3. The first try of the game came from Gloucester’s young and extremely talented Marcel Garvey. Mercier kicked ahead into space down the right wing, unfortunately Staunton was not there to retrieve and Garvey set off in pursuit, Mossie Lawlor tried to pit his pace against Garvey, but Garvey came out on top and with a little nudge forward, managed to touch the ball down over Munster’s line. Mercier converted to give Gloucester a 13-3 lead. The rest of the fist half was in the fly halfs hands with Mercier kicking one more penalty and O’Gara kicking two. The first half ended Gloucester 16 Munster 9.

The second half saw a new Gloucester enter the field and they spent the entire first 15 minutes in the Munster half. Gloucester had some chances in those 15 minutes and placed a lot of pressure on Munster but were unable to put any points on the board. A score did not come until the 58th minute when a rolling maul sent South African flanker Jake Boer over the Munster line, Mercier converted for a 23-9 lead. Mercier’s kicking talents it seemed were not to be his only path to the score sheet as shortly after Boer went over the Munster line, the Frenchman followed suit, he went over the Munster line for a converted try. The scoreboard now reading Gloucester 30 Munster 9

Munster were by this stage in serious trouble and there play looked almost frantic. Gloucester continued to force Munster to defend and were it not for some excellent tackling from Munster, the ‘cherry and whites’ would have easily ran in a lot more tries. Gloucester’s Jake Boer did manage to get Gloucester another try and his second of the game, with just two minutes to go.

By now Munster had well and truly been beat, but a little consolation came in the form of a Peter Stringer try deep into injury time, with Ronan O’Gara converting. Final Score Gloucester 35 Munster 16.

Scorers:

Gloucester: Tries: Garvey, Boer 2, Mercier Cons: Mercier 3 Pens: Mercier 3

Munster: Try: Stringer Con: O’Gara Pens: O’Gara 3

Teams:

Munster:

Jeremy Staunton, John Kelly, Mike Mullins, Rob Henderson, Mossie Lawlor, Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer, Marcus Horan, Frank Sheahan, John Hayes, Mick Galwey, Mick O’Driscoll, Jim Williams (Capt), Alan Quinlan, Anthony Foley,

Replacements: Simon Kerr, James Blaney, Eddie Halvey, Denis Leamy, Mike Prendergast, Jason Holland, Dominic Crotty.

Gloucester:

Paul; Garvey, Fanolua, Todd, Beim; Mercier, Gomarsall; Woodman, Azam, Vickery, Eustace, Cornwell, Boer, Buxton, Forrester.

Replacements: Amor, Simpson-Daniel, Stuart-Smith, Fidler, Fortey, Roncero, Pearce.