Gloucester Rugby were well represented in the Six Nations last weekend. Louis Rees-Zammit, Chris Harris, Stephen Varney, and Jonny May all started for their international teams in Round 1 of the tournament.
Rees-Zammit was part of the winning Wales side, with Chris Harris playing a vital role in Scotland’s historic victory over England at Twickenham.
Stephen Varney and Jonny May were unable to get the results they would have wanted but both played well at the international level.
Louis Rees-Zammit
Wales beat Ireland 21-16 at the Principality Stadium and it was a try from Rees-Zammit that secured the victory for the Welsh. The winger received the ball from Leigh Halfpenny in the wide channel and with a burst of acceleration, dotted down with one hand to put his side ahead.
FT: WAL 21-16 IRE⠀
— Welsh Rugby Union 🏉 (@WelshRugbyUnion) February 7, 2021
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Good to get the ball rolling with a win against a hugely defiant @IrishRugby.⠀
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𝘖𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘧𝘺𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘨, 𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘪’𝘳 𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘺𝘥𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘶𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘦𝘵𝘩 ⠀
⠀#HWFN⠀ pic.twitter.com/BjXbtNCIm3
Ireland, who were down to 14 men due to Peter O’Mahony’s 14th-minute red card, stayed in the fight but a failed attempt to go for the corner with the clock in red meant that it was Wales who came away with the victory.
Chris Harris
Scotland beat England 11-6, the first time they have beaten the Red Roses at Twickenham in 38 years. Harris started in the centre and was solid in attack and defence, even filling in on the wing late in the game.
Duhan van der Merwe scored Scotland’s only try and two penalties from Finn Russell were enough to give the Scots the result.
Stephen Varney
Stephen Varney was a live-wire in Italy’s 10-50 loss to France. Starting at scrum-half, Varney made 109 passes and managed the Italian game well. It looked like he had set up a try when he made an arching break, running through defenders and offloading to Monty Ioane who went over the line, but the score was chalked off for a forward pass.
France were too strong and scored seven tries in the fixture.
Jonny May
Jonny May would have liked to have seen some more ball in England’s 11-6 loss to Scotland at Twickenham. The winger made 20 metres in attack from six runs. Filling in at the scrum when Billy Vunipola was yellow carded, May will hope to get more opportunity in space next time out.
