Gloucester rack up third win

Gloucester took another big step towards the Heineken Cup quarter-finals with a convincing win over Bourgoin in France.

The Guinness Premiership club continue to top Pool Two after making it three wins out of three in convincing fashion.

Tries from Anthony Allen and James Simpson-Daniel contributed to a 17-0 half-time lead and Ryan Lamb quickly extended the visitors' advantage after the interval.

Bourgoin fought back, scoring their only try through Julien Frier just before the hourmark, but Andy Titterell's last minute try was enough to earn Gloucester the bonus point.

However, Gloucester's victory came at a price, with Chris Paterson, Mike Tindall, and Olly Morgan all leaving the field with injuries.

Disruption

The disruption, in conjunction with a hailstorm, had Gloucester reeling in the third quarter of the game.

They conceded one try to flanker Frier, converted by Benjamin Boyet, but their defence held under considerable pressure and they finished the game off with a try that stamped their authority on the contest.

In stark contrast to their struggles against Agen last season, Gloucester have come of age in the competition this term.

Their pack dominated the first half and with Tindall crashing through midfield and Fijian flanker Akapusi Qera powering through tackles, they had Bourgoin on the rack.

They should have had more than the tries from Allen and Simpson-Daniel before half-time, but for a few handling errors and a couple of squandered chances on the line.

Ryan Lamb, who mixed up his kicking game with trickery and tenacity, popped a quick pass to Allen and the centre spun past Rudi Coetzee to ease over for the opening touchdown in the fifth minute.

But with their scrum creaking, Bourgoin conceded a penalty for Lamb to put over.

Taunting

From a solid line-out and drive, Rory Lawson released Lamb, who swung his pass around Boyet for Simpson-Daniel to dot down under the posts.

Lamb's second conversion sent Gloucester into the interval leading 17-0 and his taunting of Boyet continued in the second half when he intercepted his counterpart's pass 45 metres out and scurried in for the third try, which he also converted.

But as Gloucester lost key casualties, Bourgoin took advantage. Mathieu Nicolas went close, denied by a desperate tackle by Iain Balshaw, before continued pressure drove Frier.

Gloucester finally broke the shackles and made it back to Bourgoin's 22 in the final minute of the game, stretching the hosts and sending replacement hooker Andy Titterrell over for a try, converted by Lamb, to secure the Kingsholm club's second bonus point from three games.