Mako Vunipola proved his fitness for England’s Six Nations encounter with Italy next week by lasting for 70 minutes in his first match since Christmas but he could not stop Saracens suffering their second defeat in six days to a team in the lower half of the table and failing to pick up a bonus point for the first time this season.
The England head coach, Eddie Jones, watched from a hospitality box as the loose-head prop, returning two months after damaging knee ligaments, comfortably held up to the pace of a match which revealed the fickle nature of Gloucester: lost without trace at Leicester the week before, they fronted up to the champions and finished the gameboth teams had the opportunity to win the stronger.
Vunipola was heavily involved in the opening try of the night, scored by Schalk Brits after nine minutes following a multi-phase move; and he forced two turnovers and carried the ball 13 times. He was also in possession of the ball on the hour when the Gloucester outside-half Billy Burns hurt his head and neck tackling the front-row and was treated on the pitch for 10 minutes before beingtaken off on a stretcher.
Gloucester were leading 23-16 at the time but within a minute Saracens had drawn level. The prop Paul Doran Jones was sent to the sin-bin for collapsing a maul and, when the penalty resulted in another lineout, Will Fraser was driven over the line. Instead of providing the cue for a familiar collapse, the home side showed the resolve and indefatigability their supporters yearn for on a regular basis.
They hustled Saracens into errors, making first-time tackles count and getting back to their feet quickly. There were times in the match when Gloucester looked like Saracens, seized by desire, and the champions resembled Gloucester careless and sloppy.
Gloucester’s three tries were the result of Saracens mistakes. Tom Marshall’s on 17 minutes came after Schalk Burger had failed to deal with Willi Heinz’s clearance kick. Jeremy Thrush extended their 16-13 interval lead nine minutes after the restart after a double dose of sloppiness, with Marcelo Bosch’s casual chip being followed by Will Fraser being caught in possession. And Richard Hibbard’s try, five minutes from the end, came after Saracens had lost the ball near the home 22. “We went off script, chanced our arm and lacked our normal composure,” said the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall. “I thought Mako did well considering he had been out for so long and I am assuming he is going to play against Italy in some form.”
McCall said the club’s England No8 Billy Vunipola, who has not played since the end of November after knee ligament damage, was ahead of schedule and would have his comeback date set next week. It was the first time Saracens, whose full-back Sean Maitland went off with a rib problem that compounded Scotland’s injury worries before next weekend’s match against Wales, had suffered back-to-back defeats for nearly two years and the first time they had failed to secure at least one point in a match for 11 months. They conceded three tries for the first time this season and could be caught on points by Exeter on Saturday this afternoon.
After Burns had given Gloucester the lead with a penalty, Brits’s try and Bosch’s long-range penalty put Saracens ahead. Marshall’s try flicked a switch and, although the 23-13 lead the home side established through Thrush’s try was wiped out when Fraser scored, it was the champions who collapsed at the end of a night of role reversal.
Gloucester: Marshall; Sharples, Scott, Twelvetrees, Halaifonua; Burns (Hook, 59), Heinz (capt); Hohneck (Y Thomas, 64), Hibbard (Matu’u, 64-66), Ma’afu (Doran Jones, 2), Savage, Thrush (Galarza, 61), Moriarty (Ludlow, 70), Rowan, Morgan.
Tries: Marshall, Thrush, Hibbard. Cons: Burns 2. Pens: Burns 3, Twelvetrees.
Saracens: Maitland (Gallagher, 50); Ashton, Bosch, Barritt (capt), Ellery; Lozowski (Malins, 77), Wigglesworth (Spencer, 70); M Vunipola (Barrington, 70), Brits (Saunders, 75), Figallo (du Plessis, 70), Rhodes, Hamilton (Flanagan, 77), Fraser, Burger (Brown, ht), Wray.
Tries: Brits, Fraser. Cons: Lozowski 2. Pens: Lozowski 2, Bosch.
Referee: W Barnes Attendance: 11,889
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