Aviva Premiership: Gloucester 23-19 Sale Sharks
Last Updated: 04/12/15 10:42pm
Gloucester moved to sixth in the Aviva Premiership after defeating an enterprising Sale outfit 23-19 at Kingsholm.
Sale started sharply, and often turned down points in favour of an attacking lineout before Gloucester No 8 Sione Kalamafoni scored two tries in quick succession to hand his side a lead they never relinquished.
Danny Cipriani kicked three penalties and controlled proceedings well for the visiting side, but was left to rue two missed conversions in testing conditions.
Rob Cook opened the scoring for Gloucester at the start after early pressure led to a stretched defence. Quick hands from James Hook unleashed Cook down the left touchline to cross in the corner, and though Billy Twelvetrees missed the conversion, it was 5-0 to Gloucester on four minutes.
Cipriani produced a magical response when he put in a deft kick over the blitzing defence from a lineout and Neville Edwards caught the ball on the full to run in untouched for his side's first try.
Cipriani missed the conversion but handed his side the lead from the tee when Twelvetrees put in a high tackle that was penalised by JP Doyle.
A Jonny May up-and-under put Sale under pressure when the defence failed to claim it, and the forwards were penalised at the ruck when trying to clean up the flood of Gloucester jerseys arriving to secure the ball. Twelvetrees called for the kicking tee and levelled the score at the beginning of the second quarter.
The centre was on hand to give Gloucester the lead when a scrum penalty offered a distant opportunity for three points, which he duly converted to nose his side ahead at the break.
Deficit
Cipriani only needed a minute of the second half to line up his first kick of the period and the England fly-half calmly slotted it for an even scoreline from the outset of the second period.
Things quickly got worse for Gloucester when Richard Hibbard was shown a yellow card for collapsing a maul in front of the Gloucester line in the 46th minute.
Gloucester were made to pay for the personnel deficit when Mike Haley took a pass in the tackle from Daniel Braid bursting through the midfield. The full-back stepped to change direction and floated a long pass to Edwards on the edge of play for the winger's second score of the day.
But the home side hit back perfectly, with No 8 Kalamafoni crossing over twice in the space of six minutes to give the Cherry and Whites a 23-16 lead at the start of the final quarter.
With 10 minutes remaining Cipriani stepped up to make it a four-point game as he punished Gloucester from the tee to set up a tense finish at Kingsholm.
With three minutes remaining Sale were dangerous on attack, but openside Matt Kvesic earned his match fees when he got over the ball to steal it and earn his side a relieving penalty. Gloucester were able to clear their lines and hold out for the win over their Premiership rivals in front of their home support.
