Players still on learning curve

Gloucester 45 Munster 8

Munster conceded six tries and had to be satisfied with a last-minute Cian Bohane score in reply as Laurie Fisher’s powerful and experienced unit ran riot at Kingsholm.

Foley used all 24 of his squad, which included 11 competitive debutants, as he cast his eye across the depth and talent available to him. And, despite the hefty loss, the coach was satisfied with his side’s efforts against a full-strength Gloucester.

“We showed a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of workrate, but what we lacked was accuracy. We couldn’t keep possession,” said Foley, who’ll look to get his first win against London Irish at Waterford on Friday.

“We knew going into the game Greg Garner would referee the side in possession so we turned around on the back end of penalty after penalty, purely on the grounds we couldn’t maintain possession of the ball.

“It was all in our own hands. It’s an area for us to work on, it’s a big learning for a lot of our lads. I thought they acquitted themselves quite well physically but we need to learn how to control the game and how to maintain possession and built pressure on the opposition.”

Skippered by Donncha O’Callaghan, Munster never looked competitive in front of the 12,719 in attendance at a lively Kinsgholm. From the off Gloucester displayed power up front and the awarding of a penalty try after six minutes was a sign of their prowess in that zone.

New signings John Afoa, Richard Hibbard and Tom Palmer particularly caught the eye for the home team, who led 10-0 at the break after James Hook found the target with a penalty. Munster had Ivan Dineen sin binned for a dangerous tackle just before the interval, but even when they returned to full strength they were no where near the standard that their hosts set.

Tries from Billy Twelvetrees and two each for Matt Kvesic and Elliot Stooke wrapped up the win after the restart, but Foley still spotted positives among the ruins.

“The scoreline could have been a whole lot more, it could have been 20 points different only for our defence. They scrambled hard, they worked hard for one another and they showed spirit.

“But, unfortunately, we didn’t show anything in the attacking side of the game. That’s very disappointing. Any time we tried to build anything we turned over the ball. We need to go away and work on a few things.

“We need to be competitive in possession, competitive at the breakdown and we need to be competitive in the air. I think going into face London Irish next week we’ll try and fix that,” said Foley.

Whatever can be gleaned from this victory over a vastly under-strength Munster remains to be seen, but Gloucester’s new director of rugby, David Humphreys was delighted with the manner his side’s triumph.

“It wasn’t about the win for us, it was about trying to get a performance. It was about getting another week for Laurie Fisher and for him to try and implement his ideas.

“In the performance there was a lot of parts that were very good. We made a few too many unforced errors, but that’s part of the pre-season,” said Humphreys.

Scorers for Gloucester: M Kvesic (2), E Stooke (2), Pen try, B Twelvetrees tries; J Hook (2), B Burns cons; J Hook (3) pens.

Scorers for Munster: C Bohane try, J Holland pen.

GLOUCESTER: R Cook; C Sharples, H Trinder, B Twelvetrees, J May; J Hook, G Laidlaw; D Murphy, R Hibbard, J Afoa; T Savage, J Hudson; S Kalamafoni, M Kvesic, B Morgan.

Replacements: T Palmer for Hudson, E Stooke for Morgan, C Braley for Laidlaw, Y Thomas for Murphy, D Dawidiuk for Hibbard, S Puafisi for Afoa (all 51), S McColl for Cook (55), B Burns for Hook (60), R Moriarty for Savage (62), T Isaacs for May (63), H Purdy for Trinder (63), J Rowan for Kvesic (63), M Atkinson for Twelvetrees (68), S Monahan for Sharples (72).

MUNSTER: S Fitzgerald; R O’Mahony, C Bohane, I Dineen, D Sweetnam; J Holland, D Williams; A Cotter, G Slattery, BJ Botha; D O’Callaghan, S McCarthy; S Buckley, B O’Mahony, CJ Stander.

Replacements: C Sheridan for Williams, AJ Ryan for Cotter, K O’Byrne for Slattery (all 40), R Scannell for Dineen, J Madigan for Stander (all 56), D Johnston for Holland, R Murphy for B O’Mahony (both 64), N Horan for Botha (67), G O’Shea for Fitzgerald (69), N Hodson for Sweetnam, R Foley for Sheridan (both 77).

Referee: G Garner (RFU).