Gloucester Rugby beat Newcastle Falcons 29-20 thanks to tries from Val Rapava-Ruskin and Jonny May as well as Lloyd Evans’ accuracy from the kicking tee.
Evans slotted the two conversions and five penalties to steer the Cherry and Whites to victory.
What happened?
Gloucester Rugby dominated the first half thanks to the accurate boot of Lloyd Evans who slotted two early penalties.
At the end of the half, the Cherry and Whites unleashed their weapon, the driving maul. Evans put the ball 5m out and it was Val Rapava-Ruskin who crashed over off the back of the driving pack to get the score.
Evans kept his accuracy from the tee and slotted the conversion to give the Cherry and Whites the 13-0 lead at the break.
It was a physical and relentless half with referee Wayne Barnes left trying to catch his breath on a few occasions!
In the second half, Evans kept the scoreboard ticking with an early penalty but Newcastle found a way into the game and got over the try line. The TMO had to check it but there was nothing wrong with Ben Stevenson’s break through the middle and he dotted down to score.
Slotting the conversion, and two penalties, Joel Hodgson put Newcastle back in the game before Evans steadied the ship with another two Gloucester Rugby penalties.
Cementing the win, Stephen Varney made a break, drew the defender and passed to Jonny May who went over for Gloucester Rugby.
At the death, Newcastle’s Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti got over for a try with Hodgson adding the conversion but it had no impact on the outcome.
Key Moment – Jonny May
The speedy winger looked threatening all game. Stephen Varney had come on at scrum half and he sent the Newcastle defence to the right before darting left, drawing the last man and then passing to Jonny May to zip over.
What’s next?
Gloucester Rugby are back in action next Friday when they host Exeter Chiefs in Round 7 of the Gallagher Premiership.
Tickets are available here.
Conversion good.
Newcastle sneak a try at the death.
Lloyd Evans slots the conversion from the touch line! Legend!!!
TRY for Jonny May! Stephen Varney fixed the defender and passed out to Jonny May who went over to score!
Play had stopped for injury.
Side entry from Newcastle. We go again...
Evans goes to the corner.
Here goes the maul!
Lloyd Evans slots the penalty!
Lloyd Evans is caught by a high tackle. Gloucester Rugby penalty.
Evans finds touch. Gloucester Rugby lineout deep in the Newcastle half.
Lloyd Evans slots the kick. His 4th penalty of the afternoon.
Kingsholm erupts! Evans calls for the tee.
Santiago Carreras with a great arching run. But his pass goes to touch.
Andrew Davidson is on for Matias Alemanno.
Gloucester Rugby scrum.
Off are:
Ben Meehan
Ben Morgan
Val Rapava-Ruskin
Louis Rees-Zammit
Jack Singleton
On comes:
Stephen Varney
Jack Clement
Jamal Ford-Robinson
Santiago Carreras
Santiago Socino
Hodgson slots the kick.
We were offside. They go for goal.
Kirill is off. Good shift. On comes Balmain.
Hodgson slots the penalty. Gloucester Rugby are blown at the scrum.
Our defence forces Newcastle to knock the ball on. We will resume with a Cherry and White scrum.
Newcastle clear to touch. We have the lineout just in our own half.
Hodgson adds the extras.
Ben Stevenson made a break through and dotted down to score. The TMO had to check for a forward pass...
Have Newcastle scored?
They are attacking but our defence is too strong.
Evans adds the three.
McGuigan is offside and then off his feet. Evans calls for the tee.
Big shove on at the maul.
Good start to the second half. Meehan snipes. We have the ball.
Lloyd Evans kicks us off.
Gloucester Rugby win the ball back and kick to touch to end the half.
Good defence from the Cherry and Whites but the ball is knocked forward as Jonny May tries to go for the intercept.
Forward pass from Jason Woodward. It was the right idea just poor execution.
More issues at the breakdown for Newcastle.
Evans adds the extras.
TRY! Val Rapava-Ruskin gets over the line for the Cherry and Whites. That maul is a real weapon.
Another one?! Newcastle coming across at the lineout. Evans goes to the corner. 5m lineout.
On their 22.
Newcastle blown for carrying something on after the whistle went. Evans goes to touch.
Great work at the breakdown from Val Rapava-Ruskin. Evans fires the ball to touch. Gloucester Rugby lineout.
They're into our 22.
Evans slots the penalty.
Not rolling away from Newcastle. We bring on the tee.
Val Rapava-Ruskin gets over the ball and wins the penalty for the Cherry and Whites. Evans goes to touch.
Great play from the Cherry and Whites. Evans clears to touch. Newcastle lineout.
That was so close! Aki went for the intercept but just knocked the ball on. Play will resume with a Newcastle scrum.
Luds just mistimes the tackle and is deemed to have taken him in the air. Newcastle have the ball in our half.
Mike Brown clears to touch. We looked a bit scrappy at the lineout there.
Gloucester Rugby get the penalty as Newcastle Falcons creep offside. Evans goes to the corner.
A great shove at the scrum! Evans goes to touch. Go on lads!
Some good play from the Cherry and White but CHarris had taken the ball back into the 22 before he kicked it out.
Evans slots the penalty. We have an early lead.
Newcastle offside. We play with the advantage and Atkinson fires the ball out to Rees-Zammit but the attack dies so we go back for the penalty. Evans calls for the tee.
A good period for the Cherry and Whites but Freddie Clarke gets the pass wrong so it's a lineout to Newcastle.
Carl Fearns isn't enjoying being on the ball. He's been smashed a few times now.
The Cherry and Whites hold tight against a strong Newcastle attack. They have the ball inside our half.
Brett Connon gets us underway here at Kingsholm!
150 appearances for the centre.
Make sure you check out our programme for all of our exclusive content ahead of the game!
This week we spoke with Mark Atkinson about reaching 150 Gloucester Rugby apperances.
Good afternoon and welcome to Kingsholm for Round 6 of the Gallagher Premiership. Gloucester Rugby host Newcastle Falcons and we'll be bringing you live updates throughout the afternoon.