James Simpson-Daniel produced another try-scoring performance in advance of England's autumn Tests as Gloucester grounded the Ospreys in the Powergen Cup at Kingsholm.

Simpson-Daniel, who touched down on his return from injury against Northampton last weekend, pounced for Gloucester's opening try in a scrappy Pool A encounter.

The England wing's lively display provided a rare bright interlude in an error-strewn contest which did little for this competition's fledgling Anglo-Welsh status.

Simpson-Daniel scored inside the opening minute, but Gloucester had to wait until the 77th for their clincher when centre Henry Paul crashed over.

Fly-half Ludovic Mercier booted 13 points, while flanker Steve Tandy claimed an Ospreys try which fly-half Matthew Jones converted. Skill levels and attacking adventure were in short supply, however.

Gloucester included four members of England's autumn Test squad in Simpson-Daniel, Mike Tindall, Alex Brown and James Forrester. But prop Phil Vickery was again absent while he continued his recovery from a shoulder injury, so Tindall continued as captain.

Celtic League champions Ospreys were decimated by injuries - with Lions trio Gavin Henson, Shane Williams and Ryan Jones all unavailable, joining their fellow casualties Jonathan Thomas and Stefan Terblanche.

Gloucester also had an unbeaten record to protect this season following three Guinness Premiership victories and a draw, and they roared ahead after just 44 seconds.

Mercier tried his luck on what appeared to be an ambitious looping run into Ospreys territory, but his opportunism produced a try as Simpson-Daniel collected his pass and skated through unopposed.

Mercier slotted the conversion and then added a penalty, leaving the Ospreys 10-0 adrift inside nine minutes.

But Ospreys captain Barry Williams rallied his troops well, and concerted Ospreys pressure resulted in a try by Tandy which Jones converted - although there was little to enthuse a sparse 6,000 crowd, comfortably Gloucester's lowest attendance of the season.

The muted atmosphere underlined what a difficult task the new-look Powergen Cup has in establishing itself on English rugby's domestic calendar.

Supporters fed on a diet of Premiership and Heineken Cup rugby are sceptical about its prospects - and despite Mercier slotting another penalty for a 13-7 interval advantage, the game remained a low-key tussle.

Ospreys lock Andrew Newman was fortunate to escape a yellow card for tipping Brown out of a line-out - referee Roy Maybank opted for a warning instead - and Mercier's third successful penalty increased the Gloucester lead to nine points.

Simpson-Daniel tried to lift the game out of its mediocrity with some intelligent, incisive running. But Gloucester found themselves dragged into a midfield morass as the Ospreys tackled well, yet created little.

The visitors had wing Richard Mustoe sin-binned for a technical offence 15 minutes from time. But Gloucester could not make their temporary one-man advantage count, matching the Ospreys in terms of their strictly limited attacking game.

It was a poor contest which did nothing to silence the cup sceptics; yet Gloucester will head to Bristol next Sunday, knowing that another victory will put them in sight of the Millennium Stadium semi-finals next March.

Paul sealed the deal with a try three minutes from time, yet the highlight of a low-key afternoon came when Maybank sounded his final whistle.