Gaffney salutes Gloucester firepower

Munster coach Alan Gaffney tonight paid tribute to Gloucester after seeing his twice Heineken Cup finalists dismantled 35-16 at Kingsholm.

It was one of Munster’s heaviest Heineken Cup defeats as Gloucester translated their impressive domestic form onto the European stage.

They outscored their opponents 4-1 on tries and also sent warning signals flashing across Europe that they are serious title contenders.

Rarely have Munster been so outplayed in the European environment, but they were just the latest victims of Gloucester’s mighty resurgence.

“We were delighted with our first half performance, but in the second period, we didn’t perform, “ Gaffney said.

“It is hard to play against a side as competent as Gloucester when you haven’t got the ball. Basic errors put us on the back foot, and you cannot give that amount of possession to a team as good as Gloucester.

“Gloucester are a very competent side. They are strong up-front, with good half-backs and a lot of firepower out wide – they are very impressive.

“Playing at Kingsholm has an uplifting effect for Gloucester, but I don’t think that this result will shake our belief.

“Of the four tries Gloucester scored, two were from line-outs and one from a kick through, so it wasn’t as though we fell apart totally.”

Gloucester thrilled a capacity 11,000 crowd, romping home through a try double from flanker Jake Boer and one apiece by wing Marcel Garvey and fly half Ludovic Mercier.

Mercier also kicked 15 points, while Peter Stringer’s injury time try was scant consolation for Munster.

Scrum half Andy Gomarsall was the architect of Gloucester’s thumping win, producing a quality all-round performance in front of watching England assistant coach Andy Robinson.

On today’s evidence Gomarsall would appear to be in pole position to face New Zealand at Twickenham on November 9.

“It was a pretty big performance from Andy. He is making the right decisions at the right times, which certainly enhance his game,” said Gloucester Rugby director Nigel Melville.

“I thought it was a hell of an 80 minutes. We want to play and improve week in, week out, and we’ve got to keep working hard.”

Melville’s coaching assistant Dean Ryan added: “This was a step up from the Premiership. At half-time, we said it was the big league; “I am pleased about the variety that we brought to our game today – we asked questions about ourselves all the time.”

While Gloucester now prepare for a trip to Italian minnows Viadana next Friday, Munster face Perpignan possibly without the services of their Lions centre Rob Henderson.

Henderson went off six minutes before half time suffering from ankle and bicep injuries.