Gloucester head coach George Skivington believes that his side will be facing the tournament favourites when they continue their Heineken Champions Cup campaign against Leinster in Dublin.
Gloucester head to the RDS for next Friday’s clash after fighting back to beat Bordeaux-Bègles 22-17 in their tournament opener at Kingsholm on Saturday evening.
Substitute Charlie Chapman’s try three minutes from time completed a powerful Gloucester recovery after they trailed 17-5 with just 16 minutes left.
“You are pretty much playing Ireland,” Skivington said, assessing Leinster’s challenge. “They’ve gone to Racing and beat them 42-10, which is pretty unbelievable. I am intrigued to watch that game, because I thought it would be a close match.
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“We are up against the favourites for the tournament at their place, but it is exciting as well.”
Gloucester finished with a bonus point following earlier touchdowns from Chapman’s fellow replacement Albert Tuisue, starting scrumhalf Stephen Varney and hooker Santiago Socino.
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Meanwhile, Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson has warned his players they will have to be “a lot better” in round two when they meet Munster in a repeat of the 2000 final.
The Saints were blown away by a blistering first-half performance from reigning champions La Rochelle at Stade Marcel-Deflandre and found themselves trailing 32-0 at the break. The champions had already bagged a try bonus point by half-time and went on to add two more tries at the start of the second half before ending up with a 46-12 scoreline.
“I’m very disappointed with that result, particularly conceding 32 points in the first half and not answering,” said Dowson. “Mistakes at this level get punished by good sides and we had to take that in the first half. We fought incredibly hard in the second half, and we stuck at it.
“I was particularly pleased with the scrum, but to concede that many points in the first half on the back of ill-discipline is very disappointing.”
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Saints meet Munster at Franklin’s Gardens next Sunday and will need to come up with something better if they are to progress in the Champions Cup.
“We have only got one option ahead of the Munster match and that is to get better. I say the same thing every week, we have to make sure we learn the lessons and get better moving forward,” said Dowson.
“We need to encourage those things that were positive and make sure against Munster we are a lot better.”
For La Rochelle, it was a 10th game unbeaten in the tournament and a statement of intent by Ronan O’Gara’s team as they launch the defence of their crown. Only four teams have won back-to-back titles since the first final in 1996 – Leicester, Leinster, Toulon and Saracens. The French outfit travel to Belfast next week to take on Ulster who were hammered 39-0 away by Sale on Sunday.
Next week’s opponents for Connacht in the Challenge Cup, Brive, surrendered seven tries to Cardiff in a 41-0 defeat at the Arms Park, the first victory for a Welsh side in a European competition since December 2020, ending a 21-match winless streak.
