Gloucester survive Matt Kvesic's dismissal to thump London Irish
Last Updated: 09/05/15 6:14pm
Gloucester overcame the first-half dismissal of Matt Kvesic to record a remarkable 35-13 victory over London Irish at Kingsholm.
Kvesic was sent off after 23 minutes for a tip tackle and it will be a huge blow for the Cherry and Whites if the flanker is ruled out of their forthcoming European Champions Cup play-off game.
Irish were in control of the game prior to Kvesic's departure, but after his dismissal they fell away badly in what was a shocking performance against 14 men.
Jonny May, Dan Thomas and Henry Purdy scored Gloucester's tries, with Greig Laidlaw converting and kicking six penalties. Alex Lewington and Andy Short scored tries for Irish, with Chris Noakes adding a penalty.
Irish fluffed a great chance to take the lead in the first minute when Blair Cowan knocked on as he tried to ground the ball, and Andrew Fenby also had an effort ruled out by the television match official.
Eventually Gloucester broke out from the siege and made the Exiles pay for the profligacy when Laidlaw's penalty put them ahead in the 15th minute.
Irish’s pack continued to dominate but the visitors could not take any of their chances. Rarely can a quarter of a match have been so one-sided but, at the end of it, amazingly Irish trailed 3-0.
Setback
Gloucester then suffered a huge setback when Kvesic was sent off for a tip tackle on Tomás O'Leary. The scrum-half was unable to resume despite receiving medical attention and, after lengthy deliberations between the TMO and the referee, Kvesic was given his marching orders.
There were two further blows for Gloucester when Richard Hibbard and Burns temporarily left the field with injuries, and it came as no surprise when numbers told with Lewington scoring the opening try after a break from Geraghty.
Burns returned and, within a minute, his chip ahead was collected by May for a try, which Laidlaw converted before adding a penalty after Irish replacement, Eamonn Sheridan, was yellow-carded for a deliberate offside.
Laidlaw's third penalty put Gloucester further ahead after the restart before Sheridan returned from the bin in time to see Noakes kick a penalty.
Laidlaw surprisingly missed a penalty chance but succeeded with three more as Gloucester, playing with the wind in their favour, still controlled matters despite their numerical disadvantage.
Laidlaw departed after his sixth penalty success but it made no difference to Gloucester's impetus. Dan Leo was yellow-carded moments after coming onto the field, which allowed Thomas to finish off a driving maul for the try.
The embarrassment for Irish was complete when Purdy won the race to score after replacement Callum Braley had skilfully chipped ahead.
Andy Short crossed for a last-minute try for Irish but it failed to disguise an abysmal showing.
