Gloucester go to ‘dark places’ for victory
of pressure. On at least six occasions, La Rochelle were camped on the Gloucester try line, but only once did they break through, from Damien Lagrange’s close-range effort with 13 minutes to go.
On the other times, Gloucester found a way to hold out, but never more spectacularly than when Billy Burns intercepted Brock James’ long pass on 57 minutes and raced the length of the pitch to score what proved to be the matchwinning try.
“It was one of those that either I take it and we score or we miss it and they score,” Burns, who kicked the rest of Gloucester’s points, said. “All I remember was catching the ball and looking for Jonny May but he was nowhere to be seen, so I put my head down.
“We came with a plan and we executed that plan. We went to some dark places in that game, but the boys just dug in deep. There was a 20-minute block where we didn’t let them over, and that won us the game. It is a career high- light; the whole emotion throughout, the build-up and then the game itself.”
The tackle count alone does not do justice to the magnificence of Gloucester’s defensive effort, led by Lions bolter Ross Moriarty and second row Tom Savage. Not only were they repelling much bigger, more powerful opponents, but the hostility of a partisan home crowd who booed every one of Burns’s kicks at goal.
“I am unbelievably proud of the effort they put in,” Humphreys said. “The coaches put in place a very good plan and the players executed that plan. Then it came down to hard work, spirit and character; things you can’t coach.
“To come to somewhere like this to win a game speaks volumes for the quality that’s there, speaks volumes about the way we prepared and speaks volumes about the way we played. The system is only as good if the people are prepared to work hard and make their tackles.”