European Champions Cup Play-Off - Gloucester v Connacht, 24 May

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Gloucester v Connacht Rugby
Sunday 24 May
KO: 15:30
Kingsholm

Live on BT Sport 2

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

A. Previous Meetings

Friday, April 3, 2015 - European Challenge Cup Quarter-Final - Gloucester 14 Connacht 7, Kingsholm
Saturday, December 17, 2011 - Heineken Cup Pool 6 - Gloucester 23 Connacht 19, Kingsholm
Saturday, December 10, 2011 - Heineken Cup Pool 6 - Connacht 10 Gloucester 14, the Sportsground

B. Recent Form

Gloucester - (European Challenge Cup semi-final): Won 30-19 at home to Exeter Chiefs; (Aviva Premiership): Won 42-40 at home to Newcastle Falcons; (European Challenge Cup final): Won 19-13 against Edinburgh at Twickenham Stoop; (Aviva Premiership): Won 35-13 at home to London Irish; Lost 50-30 away to Bath

Connacht Rugby - (European Challenge Cup quarter-final): Lost 14-7 away to Gloucester; (GUINNESS PRO12): Lost 27-20 at home to Ulster; Lost 31-13 at home to Glasgow Warriors; Won 40-10 away to Zebre; Lost 24-20 at home to the Ospreys

C. Teams

Gloucester: Charlie Sharples; Jonny May, Bill Meakes, Billy Twelvetrees (capt), Henry Purdy; James Hook, Greig Laidlaw; Nick Wood, Richard Hibbard, John Afoa, Tom Savage, Tom Palmer, Jacob Rowan, Dan Thomas, Ross Moriarty.

Replacements: Darren Dawidiuk, Yann Thomas, Shaun Knight, Elliott Stooke, Lewis Ludlow, Dan Robson, Billy Burns, Rob Cook.

Connacht Rugby: Tiernan O'Halloran; Fionn Carr, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Matt Healy; Jack Carty, John Cooney; Denis Buckley, Tom McCartney, Rodney Ah You, George Naoupu, Aly Muldowney, John Muldoon (capt), Eoghan Masterson, Eoin McKeon.

Replacements: Dave Heffernan, JP Cooney, Finlay Bealham, Andrew Browne, James Connolly, Ian Porter, Miah Nikora, Shane O'Leary.

this is a mad old game!

What a try!

Yeah, well, you can't argue with that as a try to win a game can you?

That boy May can play.

What a try.

But an injustice of a result.

Prior to the try there was a perfect contest from Buckley but no penalty.

Connacht got robbed, plain and simple

Is it finished?

whocares wrote:Is it finished?

Yes. 40-32 after extra time.

Connacht can be nothing but proud of that.

Ok thanks

Well done Gloucester. Great result.

Very happy.

Damn thats heartbreaking. Congratulations to Gloucester, sensational try at the end, never gave up. I imagine Pat Lam will have to be very careful with the post-match interview, that penalty call at the end of normal time makes a huge difference to Connacht's next season.

Marshes wrote:Damn thats heartbreaking. Congratulations to Gloucester, sensational try at the end, never gave up. I imagine Pat Lam will have to be very careful with the post-match interview, that penalty call at the end of normal time makes a huge difference to Connacht's next season.

I'm not being funny but I didn't see that as I came late to the game. What happened?

Chunky will be furious with that refereeing display we're in for a series of articles decrying the poor standards of reffing in this competition.

Chunky Norwich wrote: Great result.

It was the wrong result for many reasons, Gloucester could rest their player last week because they play in a league they had nothing to play for, they got "drawn" at home after god know how many coin toss and they still had to do with an homer ref to get them over the line.

George Carlin wrote:

Marshes wrote:Damn thats heartbreaking. Congratulations to Gloucester, sensational try at the end, never gave up. I imagine Pat Lam will have to be very careful with the post-match interview, that penalty call at the end of normal time makes a huge difference to Connacht's next season.

I'm not being funny but I didn't see that as I came late to the game. What happened?

Connacht were seconds away from full time, and conceded a contentious penalty at the breakdown. Glaws go onto score from that, potential argument for crossing in the build up, to take things to extra time.

VinceWLB wrote:

Chunky Norwich wrote: Great result.

It was the wrong result for many reasons, Gloucester could rest their player last week because they play in a league they had nothing to play for, they got "drawn" at home after god know how many coin toss and they still had to do with an homer ref to get them over the line.

It's a right Poopie when you start to care isn't it?

GLove39 wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

Marshes wrote:Damn thats heartbreaking. Congratulations to Gloucester, sensational try at the end, never gave up. I imagine Pat Lam will have to be very careful with the post-match interview, that penalty call at the end of normal time makes a huge difference to Connacht's next season.

I'm not being funny but I didn't see that as I came late to the game. What happened?

Connacht were seconds away from full time, and conceded a contentious penalty at the breakdown. Glaws go onto score from that, potential argument for crossing in the build up, to take things to extra time.

Cheers Graham. Did it go to the TMO?

Well Connacht looked to have won it in normal time. Muldowney takes the ball into contact and, rather than give a penalty for Palmer obviously not rolling, Poite gave a penalty to Gloucester. Gloucester kicked to the corner and built the try from there. Then as Meeks ran through, Twelvetrees held on to Muldowny's arm so he couldn't make a tackle. For the first penalty score of extra time, Poite rightly blew for a penalty against McCartney for exactly the same thing he let Palmer away with. Not Gloucester's fault at all, they were a credit to the way the game was played, just big big decisions that cost Connacht when they should be going on to the next round. Aside from that I thought Poite wasn't too bad.

Well at least we have yet another English or French in the comp next year. Biggest audience so more money and all that... ERC and BT finally get the right result...

Marshes wrote:Well Connacht looked to have won it in normal time. Muldowney takes the ball into contact and, rather than give a penalty for Palmer obviously not rolling, Poite gave a penalty to Gloucester. Gloucester kicked to the corner and built the try from there. Then as Meeks ran through, Twelvetrees held on to Muldowny's arm so he couldn't make a tackle. For the first penalty score of extra time, Poite rightly blew for a penalty against McCartney for exactly the same thing he let Palmer away with. Not Gloucester's fault at all, they were a credit to the way the game was played, just big big decisions that cost Connacht when they should be going on to the next round. Aside from that I thought Poite wasn't too bad.

Thanks. What were your thoughts on the refereeing, Chunky?

George Carlin wrote:
Thanks. What were your thoughts on the refereeing, Chunky?

In my opinion, the refereeing this weekend has been an utter disgrace.

Not including top14 or s15 matches, as I haven't seen any.

Great game from both sides btw.

George Carlin wrote:

GLove39 wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

Marshes wrote:Damn thats heartbreaking. Congratulations to Gloucester, sensational try at the end, never gave up. I imagine Pat Lam will have to be very careful with the post-match interview, that penalty call at the end of normal time makes a huge difference to Connacht's next season.

I'm not being funny but I didn't see that as I came late to the game. What happened?

Connacht were seconds away from full time, and conceded a contentious penalty at the breakdown. Glaws go onto score from that, potential argument for crossing in the build up, to take things to extra time.

Cheers Graham. Did it go to the TMO?

Yeah, went to TMO. Was a debatable one, but probably a fair call. The ruck though that gave possession to Gloucester was a lot more controversial.

Yeah went to the TMO for a really quick decision, but honestly it was more the no-brainer penalty against Connacht in the build-up, shocking decision

Hate it when that happens. Sides work too hard to be dinged with their pants down like that.

Pot Hale wrote:Great game from both sides btw.

Indeed, end to end, open stuff. So open that even Laidlaw was taking quick pens and darting! All in all a real pleasure to watch.

Yes that's two season changing decisions that Connacht have had to suffer - they would have already qualified otherwise. Still Pat Lam has done wonders and it's great to see the youngsters getting that level of experience. Henshaw showed again in extra time how good he is.

Still as Challenge Cup winners, Gloucester should have been going through anyway.

Tough on Connacht but Lam and his crew have done well for themselves this season. Better performances all round than some other Irish provinces....

Disappointed for Connacht. Wrong decision went against them, but that's not to take anything away from Gloucester. Both sides deserve huge credit for a game like that.

VinceWLB wrote:

Chunky Norwich wrote: Great result.

It was the wrong result for many reasons, Gloucester could rest their player last week because they play in a league they had nothing to play for, they got "drawn" at home after god know how many coin toss and they still had to do with an homer ref to get them over the line.

Nothing like a gracious loser

HongKongCherry wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:

Chunky Norwich wrote: Great result.

It was the wrong result for many reasons, Gloucester could rest their player last week because they play in a league they had nothing to play for, they got "drawn" at home after god know how many coin toss and they still had to do with an homer ref to get them over the line.

Nothing like a gracious loser

If you can't see that Connacht were robbed by that last minute pen, by a ref who did have overall a decent game, then there is no point having a discussion with you. All I can say is you better win next week!! Rather Glos than a French team that will put their 2nds from week 4.

the-goon wrote:

If you can't see that Connacht were robbed by that last minute pen, by a ref who did have overall a decent game, then there is no point having a discussion with you. All I can say is you better win next week!! Rather Glos than a French team that will put their 2nds from week 4.

But when other teams get robbed, there's nothing in it. And certainly when Irish teams win in the last minute, the opposition are "sore losers".

Disgusting rugby nation.

Chunky Norwich wrote:

the-goon wrote:

If you can't see that Connacht were robbed by that last minute pen, by a ref who did have overall a decent game, then there is no point having a discussion with you. All I can say is you better win next week!! Rather Glos than a French team that will put their 2nds from week 4.

But when other teams get robbed, there's nothing in it. And certainly when Irish teams win in the last minute, the opposition are "sore losers".

Disgusting rugby nation.

Chunky, i have told you what was wrong with the result and that wasn't that 78th min penalty only. For the record i'm not a Connacht fan but i would have no problem with the result if Gloucester actually had to fight to finnish 7th in their league and if that fixture was home and away or at a neutral ground.

VinceWLB wrote:

Chunky Norwich wrote:

the-goon wrote:

If you can't see that Connacht were robbed by that last minute pen, by a ref who did have overall a decent game, then there is no point having a discussion with you. All I can say is you better win next week!! Rather Glos than a French team that will put their 2nds from week 4.

But when other teams get robbed, there's nothing in it. And certainly when Irish teams win in the last minute, the opposition are "sore losers".

Disgusting rugby nation.

Chunky, i have told you what was wrong with the result and that wasn't that 78th min penalty only. For the record i'm not a Connacht fan but i would have no problem with the result if Gloucester actually had to fight to finnish 7th in their league and if that fixture was home and away or at a neutral ground.

Gloucester had to fight to win the Challenge Cup.

As for the penalty. The referee made an incorrect decision in favour of Gloucester. He made other wrong decisions the other way too, for instance yellow carding Afoa at a scrum where he did nothing wrong. Refs get things wrong in every game.

The best thing was the game was won at the end by a piece of brilliance from May.

The Goon, I don't feel I need to justify my comment, nor did I make any suggestion on the quality of the refereeing. The officiating was poor all round, it was a thrilling match that neither side deserved to lose. The Connacht fans at the ground were very gracious in defeat and we wished each other well.

VinceWLB wrote:

Chunky Norwich wrote:

the-goon wrote:

If you can't see that Connacht were robbed by that last minute pen, by a ref who did have overall a decent game, then there is no point having a discussion with you. All I can say is you better win next week!! Rather Glos than a French team that will put their 2nds from week 4.

But when other teams get robbed, there's nothing in it. And certainly when Irish teams win in the last minute, the opposition are "sore losers".

Disgusting rugby nation.

Chunky, i have told you what was wrong with the result and that wasn't that 78th min penalty only. For the record i'm not a Connacht fan but i would have no problem with the result if Gloucester actually had to fight to finnish 7th in their league and if that fixture was home and away or at a neutral ground.

It's the hypocrasy that is just so infuriating.

Refs are only any good when Irish teams win.

Chunky Norwich wrote:

the-goon wrote:

If you can't see that Connacht were robbed by that last minute pen, by a ref who did have overall a decent game, then there is no point having a discussion with you. All I can say is you better win next week!! Rather Glos than a French team that will put their 2nds from week 4.

But when other teams get robbed, there's nothing in it. And certainly when Irish teams win in the last minute, the opposition are "sore losers".

Disgusting rugby nation.

What are you talking about? Why is this now an examination of your bigoted perception of the Irish, rather than an appreciation of possibly the game of the season?

Marshes wrote:

Chunky Norwich wrote:

the-goon wrote:

If you can't see that Connacht were robbed by that last minute pen, by a ref who did have overall a decent game, then there is no point having a discussion with you. All I can say is you better win next week!! Rather Glos than a French team that will put their 2nds from week 4.

But when other teams get robbed, there's nothing in it. And certainly when Irish teams win in the last minute, the opposition are "sore losers".

Disgusting rugby nation.

What are you talking about? Why is this now an examination of your bigoted perception of the Irish, rather than an appreciation of possibly the game of the season?

I'm talking about this "decision" against Connacht.

Wow, what a game!

Round of applause for both sides for putting on that spectacle and working incredibly hard for 100+ minutes. Loads of mistakes, but plenty of good play too and neither side could have put any more out there.

Congrats to Gloucester who were good value for their win but credit to Connacht for pushing them all the way.

I just hope Gloucester can get back up for the play-off final vs Bordeaux now. There'll be some tired bodies out there.

Chunky Norwich wrote:

Marshes wrote:

Chunky Norwich wrote:

the-goon wrote:

If you can't see that Connacht were robbed by that last minute pen, by a ref who did have overall a decent game, then there is no point having a discussion with you. All I can say is you better win next week!! Rather Glos than a French team that will put their 2nds from week 4.

But when other teams get robbed, there's nothing in it. And certainly when Irish teams win in the last minute, the opposition are "sore losers".

Disgusting rugby nation.

What are you talking about? Why is this now an examination of your bigoted perception of the Irish, rather than an appreciation of possibly the game of the season?

I'm talking about this "decision" against Connacht.

You didn't mention the decision above, you just took a dig at the Irish. Anyway I'm not getting bogged down with your type in what should be a very warm thread between two teams who gave their all. Gloucester fans best of luck in the next tie, at least this game gave me a favourite team to watch in the English league.

Cyril, I agree it'll need to be a low intensity training week, especially given our extensive injury list. But for many of the team this will be the last competitive game for 5 months so one more effort is needed.

Don't know who it was that took a very severe knock for Gloucester, but was glad to see he walked off. Not being funny, but off that performance and with some established internationals, are Gloucester far off the pace, or should they be closer to the playoffs?

Looking at the likes of Billy Twelvtrees with regards to the England set up for the RWC. I don't he should be any where near the squad. He looked well off the pace.

Johny May Where did he get the energy from for the last minute try? Should be given another chance for the squad.

Marshes we were dire until the New Year but have now put a string of performances together and are unbeaten at Kingsholm this year. I thought today we were poor and error strewn, which doesn't take away from Connacht's performance, but we tried to force the game and our handling and kicking were not up to scratch. Having said that we have a numerous injuries and our backrow was missing Kalamafoni, Kvesic, Morgan and Evans.

Well played both teams - what an amazing match! I can only think that Bordeaux must have been happy to see Glos and Connacht take so much out of each other. Loved the Jonny May try at the end - did he not even make it into the World Cup training squad? Was confused about the refereeing at times with decisions on the ground and in the scrum going the wrong way for both sides IMO. Congratulations to Gloucester for making it to the next round - I might well see if I can get tickets as it's just up the road from me and I've got a soft spot for Glos. Hard luck Connacht - lots to be proud of in defeat and you're clearly a team on the up.

Twelvetrees is wood masquerading as porcelain, I'm afraid.

You only had to watch the Bath centres the other night to see how large the gap in quality really is at the top.

Gloucester are certainly massive favourites next week. The opposition being a demoralised french team known as chokers who only won 2 games away this season.

whocares - they beat Lyon recently and have been within 2 points of Toulouse and Castres... I hope you're right but I'm not so sure. I can see that Lyon and Castres don't look that good based on table position but even so I'm still thinking Bordeaux are more than in with a chance.