A slow start for Gloucester Rugby meant they trailed at the break, but three unanswered tries in the second half were more than enough to claim a 35-14 victory on a historic day.
On the clubs 150th anniversary, encouraging performances from Adam Hastings and Ollie Thorley, in particular, inspired the second-half comeback, which saw Gloucester put up 21 unanswered points.
Gloucester Head Coach George Skivington was delighted to mark such a special occasion at Kingsholm with a dominating performance.
“Yeah, I thought it was brilliant. There was lots of good stuff. We tried to attack and play some good rugby. There were probably one or two passes off scoring some good tries. H
“But we had a few lads out there that hadn’t played a lot of rugby, so it was a little bit clunky. A few balls down that we would have liked to have scored some tries off.
“There was some heroic stuff at the ending minutes, especially with young players, players out of position and some boys playing their first game. We had to go to 14 due to a bang (to Ruan Ackerman), and they dogged it out and didn’t let the BaaBaas score,” He said.
Despite a brilliant first 40 from The BaaBaas, they tailed off in the second half. However, Skivington spoke highly of the opposition and their elusiveness.
“I think you’ve got to prioritise what you’re about, and like you say, our D was good today, and we got to prioritise that.
“They had a couple of really elusive moments and scored some great tries, which is great for the spectacle and good for us as well to see a different style of rugby come out for us.
“The focus was very much on us this week and making sure we do our stuff well, and we believe we’ll be competitive every week. For the most part, tonight we were just that.” He said.
To top off what was a great day for The Cherry & Whites, Zach Mercer made his long-awaited debut for Gloucester after completing his last Top 14 campaign for Montpellier.
Skivington was more than happy to have the number 8 back in English top-flight rugby.
“It was great to get him out there! Obviously, we signed him quite a long time ago, and he’s had a long pre-season.
“A tough start to come over when he was released from the World Cup, but great to see him out there and a couple of flashes and lots more to come!” He said.
Skivintgon’s side will welcome Coventry Rugby to Kingsholm this weekend in the group stages of the Premiership Cup.
