Gloucester come from behind to edge out London Irish 29-33

London Irish 29-33 Gloucester Rugby, Madejski Stadium
Scorecard

Gloucester Rugby made an incredible comeback after being 0-17 down to go on to win the Aviva Premiership encounter against London Irish 29-33 at Madejski Stadium on Saturday.

This was also the first game for the Exiles under their newly appointed technical consultant Declan Kidney after director of rugby Nick Kennedy's departure on Thursday.

James Marshall kicked a fourth minute penalty goal to begin the proceedings for London Irish and Josh McNally on his comeback from a corrective heart surgery touched down in the 9th minute with the fullback slotting the conversion to make it 10-0.

London Irish maintained the pressure on Gloucester, who were unable to move from their 22 as Piet van Zyl crashed past the line in the 17th minute with Marshall converting it to make it 17-0.

As the game was slipping away from the Cherry and Whites, their first attack proved successful with hooker James Hanson going past the line allowing Billy Twelvetrees to slot the conversion. Twelvetrees, who was a replacement for Billy Burns brought a degree of composure to Gloucester’s game, and Marshall finished off a flowing move that Twelvetrees converted to further cut the gap.

When Burns returned back, Gloucester breached London Irish defence once again this time Lewis Ludlow scoring a try as the first half ended with a score of 17-19.

Gloucester thought they had extended their advantage within five minutes of the restart when Atkinson sent Marshall clear, but referee Matt Carley disallowed it for midfield obstruction after consulting with the television match official. However, they did not wait much for their bonus point try with Atkinson breaching weak London Irish's defence in the 52nd minute and soon Marshall's second try three minutes later made it 17-33.

Theo Brophy Clews (64') and Joe Cokanasiga (71') allowed London Irish fightback with a try apiece in the final quarter but their effort could not quite help the Exiles go past Gloucester.

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