Harlequins beat Gloucester 15-28 to secure Champions Cup place

Gloucester Rugby 15 - 28 Harlequins, Kingsholm Stadium
Scorecard

Harlequins have secured a top-eight finish in the ongoing Gallagher Premiership season as they defeated Gloucester Rugby 15-28 in the 20th round of the tournament at Kingsholm Stadium.

They are now positioned sixth with 46 points which will secure them a berth in next season's Champions Cup while Gloucester are at eighth with 41 points.

The game was played in front of 1000 spectators and it was Marcus Smith, who helped the visitors made a brisk start with three penalty goals in the opening 10 minutes before Danny Cipriani's three-pointer in the 12th minute got the Cherry and Whites off the mark.

The opening try of the game came in the 15th minute when Cadan Murley went past Stephen Varney to score with Smith improving it to make it 3-16. Gloucester had their chances but could not quite convert them into points as Cipriani made a forward pass to Jonny May, who would have easily gone over the line.

Things turned tough for the hosts as a pass from Varney was intercepted by skipper Stephan Lewies as he dotted down to take Quins to a 3-21 lead in the opening half.

Gloucester showed better intent in the second half when Polledri managed to beat Alex Dombrandt to cross over early with Cipriani's conversion bringing the deficit down to 11 points. Nevertheless, Harlequins ensured there was no slip up as Joe Marchant intercepted a Cipriani pass before sending replacement Scott Steele over the try line in the 60th minute.

Matias Alemanno's touchdown in the 65th minute gave Gloucester some hope but the difference in the end was too much to cover as Harlequins completed a 13-point victory.