Henry Paul won the day for Gloucester at Kingston Park with the
last kick of the game against a stunned Newcastle Falcons.
The Gloucester full-back struck after Epi Taioni, never far away from the
centre of attention in Newcastle-Gloucester games, had come off the bench to
score an injury-time try which had seemingly earned the hosts a draw.
Newcastle lacked ideas, but four penalties from Jonny Wilkinson kept the hosts
in touch after Junior Paramore had crossed for Gloucester in the first half.
Two Henry Paul penalties then gave the Cheery and Whites a seven-point lead
before Taione stormed through and under the posts.
A game devoid of drama then had a nail-biting climax as Paul first missed a
drop goal, skewing it left under pressure from Wilkinson, before landing the
crucial penalty deep into injury time.
This was a fixture which had developed a fiery edge over the past year,
following unsubstantiated allegations from Newcastle director of rugby Rob
Andrew that flanker Epi Taione was racially abused by Olivier Azam and the
Gloucester fans.
But, bar the odd skirmish, it appeared any remaining fireworks between the two
clubs had been doused.
Taione was relegated to the bench, with Newcastle blaming his rising penalty
count, allowing a start for his Tongan compatriot Soa Otuvaka.
Newcastle missed the one thing Taione does better than most - making line
breaking runs and winning crucial yards at crucial times - until he was
introduced in the second half.
Wilkinson, accurate as ever from the kicking tee, was missing touch, while
attempts to play their way out of trouble floundered against a Gloucester
defence quick up from the line and solid in the tackle.
Newcastle's rare forays into Gloucester's territory resulted in penalties for
Wilkinson to convert, which he duly did, each time levelling after Ludovic
Mercier had booted the Cherry and Whites ahead.
The key moment of the opening exchanges came with Newcastle once again under
pressure inside their own 22.
Gloucester's England scrum-half Andy Gomarssal took a quick tap penalty, cut
through into space and just as he looked to offload, Newcastle lock Hugh Vyvyan
cut down the supporting James Forrester off the ball.
Vyvyan was sin-binned and the Newcastle pack, a man short, could not cope.
Three times the five-metre scrum was reset as Newcastle wheeled and crumbled
under the strain, before Gloucester number eight Junior Paramore collected from
the base and bundled over the line.
Wilkinson kicked all 24 points in the win against Northampton on the opening
day and was again responsible for bringing his side back into the game, landing
two further penalties to bring his side to within a point at the interval.
A wasted chance just before the interval, when Hall Charlton's pass to Joe
Shaw was grounded, was almost punished immediately as Gloucester made their own
break down the same wing, only Jamie Noon to execute a try-saving tackle on
Thinus Delport.
His efforts, however, earned him a crashing late challenge from Patrice
Collazo, who was sin-binned.
But while Newcastle folded when a man short, Gloucester had the luxury of
field position and slowed the game down, once again allowing Newcastle time out
of their own territory.
Mercier was replaced by James Simpson-Daniel, who went to centre, and Paul
took over the kicking duties, and landed two more penalties as Gloucester took a
19-12 lead with 12 minutes remaining.
Newcastle, needing a converted try to earn a draw, upped the tempo, and after
three wasted opportunities thought they had secured a draw when Taione crashed
through the challenge of Trevor Woodman and scored.
But Newcastle failed to clear further danger and after Paul had missed his
drop goal, slotted over his penalty for the win.
Newcastle: Botham, Shaw, Godman, May, Noon, J. Wilkinson,
Charlton, Peel, Brotherstone, Ward, Vyvyan, Grimes, Otuvaka,
Arnold, Dowson.
Not Used: Grindal, Hurter, Hamilton, Devonshire, Isaacson,
Taione, Thompson.
Tries: Taione.
Cons: J. Wilkinson.
Pens: J. Wilkinson 4.
Gloucester: Paul, Delport, Fanolua, Todd, Beim, Mercier,
Gomarsall, Collazo, Azam, Vickery, Fidler, Cornwell, Boer,
Forrester, Paramore.
Not Used: Stuart-Smith, Simpson-Daniel, Garvey, Fortey, Buxton,
Eustace, Woodman.
Tries: Paramore.
Cons: Mercier.
Pens: Mercier 2, Paul 3.
Att: 5,304
Ref: Roy Maybank (RFU).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook