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'It’s an unstructured situation and guys like Mercer thrive off that'
By PA
Gloucester head coach George Skivington was thrilled to see his side end their long wait for a win at Leicester following their 27-25 Gallagher Premiership triumph at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
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It was the ideal way for the Cherry and Whites to resume their league campaign, seven days after defeating the Tigers in the Premiership Rugby Cup final, with Italy scrum-half Stephen Varney scoring a late winning try.
It was also their sixth-straight win in all competitions, while it dented Leicester’s play-off hopes as they dropped to seventh in the table to sit behind Bristol, who thumped Northampton.
Skivington said: “16-and-a-half years since Gloucester had won here is a nice thing to get off your back, but the more important thing is backing up a good performance from last week. We knew there would be a lot of quality coming in for Leicester off internationals, that’s something we talked about in the week.
“We tried to enjoy last weekend and enjoy the moment of winning a trophy – which is probably long overdue at Gloucester – and then it’s a real challenge to back it up mentally, physically, so that’s the really pleasing bit for me.
“It would have been easy to over-enjoy winning the Prem Cup and relax, but that wasn’t the case at all. That’s a nice moment for him [Varney] at the end – obviously, he had a good Six Nations and he is just enjoying his rugby.”
Zach Mercer and Chris Harris both struck in the first half for Gloucester, who led 17-8 at half-time after Tommy Reffell hit back for Leicester. Solomone Kata and Jasper Wiese then both rumbled over off the back of driving mauls and Jamie Shillcock appeared to have completed the Tigers’ comeback, only for Varney to snatch it for the Cherry and Whites.
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Leicester head coach Dan McKellar said: “I don’t think I have been more disappointed after a loss, to be honest, just to lose at home. We started well, we didn’t get any reward off the back of it and all of a sudden it was 17-3 (to Gloucester).
“We showed a lot of character to go back to our strength, we mauled incredibly well and got ourselves in front, but they won a lot of ball on the ground tonight. One loose ball off a kick and we didn’t defend as well as we needed to.
“Collision-wise, I just thought we were off the pace a little bit, even in and around our breakdown. Defensively, we allowed them to offload and they won the loose ball on the ground. All of a sudden, it’s an unstructured situation and guys like Mercer thrive off that.”
"I can't quite believe what's just happened!"
Gallagher Premiership Man of the Match @Mercer8Zach gives his reaction following a historic win for @GloucesterRugby ?#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/SARvBOaTrz
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) March 22, 2024
Maybe that’s why SB doesn't want to go to Mercer….SB wants structure and Mercer doesn't play like that. It's a team game not a stage for one person to shine.