European Challenge Cup Final - Gloucester's Glory

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Last night Cherry and White eyes were smiling as Gloucester Rugby lifted their first piece of silverware since 2011. It was an emotional night for David Humphreys' and his side as they showed tremendous heart and character in the face of a valiant effort from Edinburgh Rugby. 

The talent housed in Gloucester Rugby's squad rivals some of the very best in the Aviva Premiership and last night, in spite of making life hard of themselves, they showcased their abilities on the largest stage of their year. The fact that a place in the European Champions Cup playoffs was at stake as well as there being a trophy on the line added an extra level of pressure and excluding the two moments of ill discipline, they handled this weight on their shoulders admirably. 

Ultimately last night's victory came down to the collective character of the side, defensively they worked themselves into the ground and in attack they paid a high tempo game. As always in memorable victories there were individuals that shone; the manner in which Grieg Laidlaw took charge to see out the final five minutes of the game, following a critical turnover, highlighted just one of the reasons why Vern Cotter trusts him with Scotland's Captaincy. Laidlaw's proficiency off the tee has been one of Gloucester's weapons this season and his cool delivery of fourteen points added to a polished and proficient performance. The Man of the Match, Jonny May, showed off his lightening pace and silky smooth skills going forwards and had it not been for one of the best tap tackles that we'll see all year from Cornell Du Preez, he would have scored the try of the tournament. That said he set up Billy Twelvetrees' score and was a constant threat throughout and as for Gloucester's Captain, he showed true leadership to guide the side throughout the eighty minute emotional rollar-coaster. 

As we all know Gloucester started this season on the back foot and victory itself means a huge amount to all concerned at the Club as David Humphreys' articulated after the game; 

'Over the last few weeks we haven’t made it easy for ourselves in any game, but we have shown real character, real determination, we’ve hung on in games that we could have so easily lost earlier in the season and there is no doubt that the team has evolved from that point of view. We were thrown together with 25 new players, a completely new coaching team and we probably naively at the start of the year thought that it might have been easier than it has proved to be but again a huge amount of work is rewarded with the victory tonight.' 

Rightly so the celebrations will have gone on long into the night and today I expect there to be a few fans and maybe even players nursing sore heads however as we all know this year there is little to no rest for the wicked. Gloucester's hard fought and gutsy victory  secured their place in the European Champions Cup playoffs and as we are all well aware the return of the final two rounds of the Aviva Premiership is just around the corner. However, right now, on the morning after the night before let us just take a moment to say 'Congratulations Gloucester', what a night and what a victory.