‘Illegal’ scrummaging riles Gloucester

Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann accused Montpellier of illegal scrummaging after his team lost a thriller at Altrad Stadium.

Ackerman’s side played the last 24 minutes with a man advantage after Montpellier lock Jacques du Plessis was sent off for a swinging arm on Gerbrandt Grobler.

It allowed Gloucester to come back into the equation with tries from Matt Banahan and Joe Simpson – but it was not enough.

Ackermann felt Montpellier’s dominant scrum was based around illegal technique used by tighthead prop Levan Chilachava.

“In the scrums there was a grey area and I felt there was a lot of illegal stuff from Montpellier but they got away with it,” he said.

“I felt their tighthead was angling in. From where we sat he was never straight. They got away with things in the first half. It’s not going to change the result.”

Montpellier won 10 of their 11 scrums and their giant pack ultimately laid the platform for the narrow win. Tries from Jan Serfontein,

Caleb Timu and Nemani Nadolo put the hosts 24-10 up at the break with Callum Braley responsible for Gloucester’s effort.

Du Plessis’s exit gave Gloucester momentum and Banahan and Simpson crossed as Billy Twelvetrees kicked two conversions and two penalties.

Ackermann had no regrets about fielding a weakened side. “We selected a team we thought would be enough to win,” he said.

Gloucester prop up Pool Five and Ackermann said: “We’ll probably have to win all four games now.”

Du Plessis’s dismissal hurt Montpellier but 15 points from the boot of Benoit Paillaugue proved crucial.