Gloucester took on London Irish after a big win against Bath last weekend. With both sides on form it was set to be a hard fought encounter.

Gloucester made the worse possible start to the game as London Irish intercepted a Gloucester pass bound for Olly Morgan. Alex Gray caught the ball mid-flight and went over for an early try. Homer converted easily and Irish got a 7-0 lead.

The first scrum was next to follow but London Irish impeded and Gloucester got their first penalty. Taylor put Gloucester on the score board and they narrowed the gap to 7-3. Homer made his first penalty attempt and missed shortly after.

Gloucester’s first try wasn’t far away and Tom Voyce was the man who scored it. Trinder powered through the first line of defenders and managed an offload to Morgan who passed onto Voyce and he completed the play and dived across the line. Taylor converted.

Taylor added another three points on the fifteen minute mark but once again Homer missed a penalty attempt. However, it was on the 24th minute when Homer finally slotted one through the posts and narrowed Gloucester’s lead to 13 points to 10.

Gloucester dominated for the much of the second quarter with a penalty from Taylor they extended their lead further. Chris Hala’ufia was sin-binned later on after a dangerous tackle on Olly Morgan under the high ball and he came off amid boos from the Kingsholm faithful.

The home side’s success continued deeper into the first half as they were awarded with a penalty try after the forwards made a big drive towards the line. Taylor scored the conversion sending Gloucester into a 23-10 lead.

But Gloucester’s defence slipped momentarily as Topsy Ojo swiftly dodged past the last line of defenders to score a late try. Homer converted and rounded of the first half with Gloucester leading 23-17.

Mike Catt and Toby Booth’s frustration showed throughout the first half and their half time team talk must have inspired the visitor’s to do something special as they started the second half with a bang. Homer scored a penalty in the second minute and a try closely followed.

Thompstone made the initial break and he passed onto Joseph. Joseph ran a little then offloaded to Shingler who went over the line to take the lead for Irish. Homer converted.

London Irish really pressured Gloucester for the remainder of the quarter, playing quick ball through the backs and forwards making yards on each attack. However their quality of play wasn’t sustained and they knocked the ball on awarding Gloucester a penalty.

Dawidiuk scored for Gloucester beneath a pile of forwards and Taylor converted yet again meaning Gloucester led narrowly by 30 points to 27. However another Homer penalty was not far away and the scores were tied at 30-30.

Burns scored the crucial penalty to send Gloucester to another home victory. In front a noisy Kingsholm Gloucester moved up to 5th in the Aviva Premiership table.