The Sharks' front row was made up of Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch and packing down behind them was Eben Etzebeth, whose sinew-straining tackle on Chris Harris meant Gloucester had nothing to show for a strong opening 10 minutes.
The match turned on the scrum with Gloucester penalised throughout. They were missing loose-head. Val Rapava Ruskin, hooker George McGuigan and lock Matias Alemanno and, as they were left to reflect on a campaign that saw them prioritise two cup competitions after a run of league defeats put a top four finish out of reach, injuries were a recurrent theme.
Key players like Ruan Ackermann, Zach Mercer, Adam Hastings, Santi Carreras, Ruskin, McGuigan, Fraser Balmain and Alemanno all missed chunks of the campaign, centre Mark Atkinson was forced to retire because of a knee injury while Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit scored four tries in seven starts after returning from the World Cup before being released from his contract to allow him to try and break into American football.
"Perhaps we could have been something without all the injuries," said Ackermann, who has been linked with a move to Japan. "When we are at full strength it is massive because it provides a different edge in training and having everyone available breeds confidence.
"When I came back from injury Europe had just started. We realised that after our start in the Premiership that if we did not change something it could be a very long season and one where we found ourselves going through the motions because we were out of all the competitions.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 02, 2024 من The Rugby Paper.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 02, 2024 من The Rugby Paper.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Harrow keep their nerve for double joy
HARROW saw off QEGS Wakefield to defend their Continental Tyres National School Cup title in emphatic fashion at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
Wales all washed up with nowhere to go...
Every living English Grand Slam captain, from Sir Bill Beaumont to Dylan Hartley via Will Carling and Martin Johnson, shares another common denominator. They all know what it’s like to be blown away in the cyclonic fury of Cardiff on big-match day.
Lynn's hoping for fantastic farewell
GLOUCESTER-Hartpury have the chance to send boss Sean Lynn off with a perfect farewell as they chase an unprecedented hat-trick of consecutive titles.
Red Roses want to make it seven in a row - Mitchell
ENGLAND head coach John Mitchell has had to prepare for his title defence without players in the PWR final.
Lions' support team keeps on growing
The 1974 Lions took off from Heathrow with a management team of two. No specialist coaches, no analysts, no spin doctors, no physios, not even a bucket-and-sponge man.
Chiefs are too good for Blues in thriller
In a repeat of last season’s final, the Chiefs beat the Blues in a thriller to go top and continue the champions’ nightmare title defence.
Battling Italy make it tough for Ireland
ITALY, despite a succession of serious injuries and self-inflicted disciplinary problems, pushed Ireland all the way at the Olympic Stadium in a game that summed up both their respective campaigns.
Nice are planning a quick reversal
You may not have heard of Stade Marcel Volot – the one-stand 3,000-capacity home of ProD2 basement side Nice, which sits next to the Var river up the road from the rather larger and better-known Allianz Riviera home of the city’s Ligue 1 football team.
France in seventh heaven
FRANCE overcame a spirited Scotland display in a breathless finale in Paris to secure a record-equalling seventh Six Nations title – drawing level with England – and their first since 2022.
Time to talk about the 1995 you-know-what
It’s ODD how some Grand Slams get lost in the mists of time, seemingly never to be mentioned again. Take England in 1995. Thirty years ago this weekend Will Carling’s team were closing out their third Slam in five years with a 24-12 victory over Scotland at Twickenham with Rob Andrew kicking seven penalties and a dropped goal for the men in white.
