Gloucester Rugby beat Sale Sharks 29-28 at the CorpAcq stadium in Round Three of the PREM Rugby Cup last night.
Tries Jack Cotgreave, Will Trenholm, and Caio James‘ double aided Gloucester to the win while George Barton‘s near perfect day off the tee including a 72nd minute penalty meant that Sharks’ last gasp score still wasn’t enough.
The win marks the Cherry and Whites’ first since September and broke the Sharks’ unbeaten home run which stretched back to February.
After the game, Gloucester’s defence coach Dominic Waldouck was enthused by the performance.
“That 23 showed what is to be a Gloucester Rugby player,” he said.
“I think that’s all built on attitude and work rate. That was the biggest thing that stood out for me.
“There were two things we wanted to get after this week, show the best version of yourself as an individual, and fight together.
“A lot of players put their hand up to George (Skivington – Gloucester Rugby’s Director of Rugby) to make him think about them when he’s picking his next team.”
With the PREM Rugby Cup sometimes deemed as a lesser competition compared to the Gallagher Premiership, Waldouck emphasised the importance of the tournament that shines a light on young and fringe players.
“We won this competition a couple years ago, it was one of the great moments in my coaching career so far,” admitted the defence coach.
“I think it serves a purpose to develop players and brings some players through.
“A lot of these younger lads put their hands up today to say to George (Skivington) that they want to play Premiership rugby.”
Summer signing Mike Austin and academy product Barton were amongst Gloucester’s best performers.
Speaking on his half back pairing, Waldouck admitted: “In the second half, it was a tactical masterclass.
“The way we kept Sale in their 22 or half reminded me what George Ford did to us in game one of the Premiership season.
“For two young players to do that was very impressive.”
Waldouck also highlighted Gloucester captain Harry Taylor and try scorer Trenholm as top operators in the pack.
“I think they both led fantastically, both with their actions and vocally,” he said.
“I think they should both be very proud of their performance.”
One final player that got extra credit from Waldouck was young Welsh blindside flanker James.
The 19-year-old has proved that it is “about the size of the dog” with the flanker standing at five foot, nine inches tall.
With rugby players seemingly growing in size each season Waldouck said: “He’s not a huge man in the giant world of back row forwards but he packs a punch like a six-foot five man.
“He’s got an unbelievable attitude and that makes up for his lack of size.”
With a week off before heading to treble winners Bath on November 14, keep an eye out on Parklife Sport for reaction to Gloucester’s next PREM Rugby Cup clash.
