Gloucester smash their way into LV Cup Final
Gloucester smashed their way into the final of the LV= Cup with a 45-17 win over Welsh side Newport-Gwen Dragons at Kingsholm.
Winger Charlie Sharples scored four tries in the second half as Gloucester showed their dominance in the tournament picking up their tenth straight win.
The victory sets up a showdown with Newcastle Falcons for the first available piece of silverware this season at Northampton's Franklin Gardens.
The home side's Fly-Half Nicky Robinson notched up 15 points including a try and Andrew Hazell grabbed himself a try as the cherry and whites cruised to victory.
The English side now play their third successive final in the tournament.
First Half
Gloucester were given a flying start when Openside Hazell crashed over on three minutes from a maul set up from the line-out 5 yards out . Robinson missed the conversion from the left-hand side- Gloucester 5 Dragons 0
Robinson redeemed himself on 12 minutes with a neat switch inside for Centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu to add to the tally and the Fly-Half easily converted the routine kick that followed under the posts. Gloucester 12- Dragons 0
Gloucester's backline was continually pressuring the Dragons, pinning them back with kicks deep into territory for the forwards to work from.
The away side had their first chance to respond after 20 minutes when Gloucester were penalized for a truck-and-trailer offence but Fly-Half Jason Tovey was well wide of the mark.
Newport were beginning to find their feet and came agonisingly close on 29 minutes, winger Tom Riley just finger tips away from finishing Pat Leach's chip through- but the bounce of the ball was not kind to him.
With Newport now on the front foot, Gloucester's next try came in cruel circumstances. On 32 minutes, an interception by Robinson opened up 60 yards of space for him to cruise into and add another five points. Embarrassingly he missed the extras and the opportunity to extend the 17-point deficit was spurned. Gloucester 17 Newport 0
Second Half
The first half looked relatively quiet in comparison to the second, as the home side upped the gears to the next level.
Sharples grabbed his first try on 43 minutes with a missed pass creating an overlap situation. Centre Henry Trinder attacked the line before offloading to the winger who stepped inside to score the try. Robinson was successful with his kick from a wide angle. Gloucester 24 Dragons 0
The Welsh side finally scored on 50 minutes, Lock Adam Jones finishing off a good spell of attack to step over in the corner and reduce the lead. The conversion was difficult and wide of the posts. Gloucester 24 Dragons 5
But any chance of a Dragons revival was demolished when Sharples scored his second in the corner. The ball was driven up the centre of the field and the Cherry and Whites exploited the blindside channel where a dog-legged defence provided enough room to finish the move. Robinson brought his kicking boots to the second half and converted again from the wide right. Gloucester 31 Dragons 5
Almost immediately he was celebrating his hat-trick when the ball was overthrown at a defensive line-out and substitute Akapusi Qera gave the ball to the flying winger who raced away for his third- Robinson added a further two points from the conversion. Gloucester 38 Dragons 5
On 63 minutes, the deficit was extended to 40 points. Robinson with his fourth and final try of the game after opening up the blindside and using simple hands to let him power his way for the seventh try.
Newport grabbed a consolation try on 69 minutes when Aled Brew scored touched down. The ball going through the hands right to left before a missed pass that hit the floor was prodded through and turned in inside for a comfortable try. The conversion was missed so the lead was narrowed by five. Gloucester 45 Dragons 10
And in the dying embers of the match, a well worked lineout passed handled across the line, the Dragons capitalised on the ball hitting the floor again across the backs and Hayes split the defence to give it outside to Groves to cross over. The conversion was successful to provide a bit more pride for the gritty Welsh side. Gloucester 45 Dragons 17
Newport Dragons exit the tournament and Gloucester march on to the final thirsty for Silverware.
