Harlequins lowly position in the Zurich Premiership became all the more
precarious with their eighth league defeat on the trot.
The south London outfit remain just one place ahead of basement side Leeds -
but could slip to the bottom of the pile on Sunday if the Tykes defeat Saracens
at Vicarage Road.
Quins now only have five Premiership games left - two at home - to desperately
claw their way away from the relegation trapdoor.
For Gloucester however, it was a fitting send-off for departing director of
rugby Philippe Saint Andre - believed to be Bourgoin-bound - who has been hugely
instrumental in Gloucester's best season for six years.
After the win, the West Country outfit remain second in the Premiership
table and are in the semi-finals of the Parker Pen Shield.
Harlequins led the way early on with two Paul Burke penalties to one from the
visitors' Ludovic Mercier - but it didn't take long for Gloucester to assert
their authority.
The visitors' Henry Paul assisted Diego Albanese over the try line on the
right wing.
Although Mercier missed the conversion and Gloucester did not score again in
the first half they were not short of ideas with three near scores.
French hooker Olivier Azam finally came up with the goods with a 58th-minute
try.
The heavyweight forward had Mercier to thank as the fly-half was thinking on
his feet - cleverly intercepting a pass by England young scrum-half Nick
Duncombe.
Mercier then charged up field to offload to winger Terry Fanolua, who was
brought down just short of the try line, but managed to pop the ball up to
Azam.
Frenchman Mercier converted and then added a penalty eight minutes later from
a massive 50 metres out to complete the scoring and seal the Cherry and Whites'
success.
Teams:
Harlequins: D. Slemen, Gollings, Greenwood, Burrows, Luger,
Burke, Duncombe, Leonard, Tiatia, Dawson, Morgan, Codling,
White-Cooper, Sanderson, Diprose.
Replacements: Jewell for D. Slemen (64),
Winters for Burrows (64), Bemand for Duncombe (70),
Olver for Dawson (58), Bell for White-Cooper (63).
Not Used: Roddam, Sheriff.
Pens: Burke 2.
Gloucester: O'Leary, Fanolua, Paul, Todd, Albanese, Mercier,
Gomarsall, Pucciarello, Azam, Vickery, Fidler, Cornwell, Boer,
Forrester, Paramore, Paramore.
Replacements: Yachvili for Fanolua (79),
Ewens for Albanese (79), Simpson-Daniel for Gomarsall (79),
Fortey for Azam (70), Paramore for Vickery (52),
Pearce for Fidler (73), Collazo for Paramore (42),
Caillet for Paramore (73).
Sin Bin: Pucciarello (39).
Tries: Albanese, Azam.
Cons: Mercier.
Pens: Mercier 2
Att: 8,000
Ref: Dave Pearson (RFU).
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