Gloucester: (14) 23 |
Attempt: break pen: Carreras 6 |
Osprey: (13) 13 |
Attempt: Giles Cons: williams pen: Williams, Giles |
Gloucester reached within 80 minutes of their fifth European Challenge Cup final with an attritional victory over the Ospreys at Kingsholm.
The Cherry and Whites will face either Benetton or Connacht, who play on Sunday, in the home semi-final.
The Ospreys took the lead through a superb try from Kieran Giles, but Seb Blake denied Gloucester's only try of the first half.
Argentina's flyhalf Santi Carreras kicked six penalties to secure the victory.
Gloucester have been cup specialists this season, winning the Premiership Rugby Cup and progressing to the last four of the competition despite struggling in the league having lost 10 of their 14 games so far.
They had just beaten Sale Sharks last week and faced an Ospreys side who were expected to cause problems from set pieces against Kingsholm.
However, the Welsh side's lineout and scrum went awry, but the visitors were shown the highlight of the match just 14 minutes after Carreras put the home side ahead.
Scotland international Adam Hastings, in his first game back after a three-month absence due to injury, attempted a chip kick that was deflected into the hands of Australian full-back Jack Walsh.
He caught the Gloucester defense cold with a change of pace that opened up the right side of the Gloucester defence, giving Ospreys leading scorer Kieran Giles an open field in front, with only one result.
Carreras and Owen Williams exchanged penalties, but the home team took the lead and it was the last time the Ospreys took the lead.
The team drove from a five-metre lineout, Blake came on with the ball and Carreras and Owen Williams converted penalties again, leaving the teams just one point apart at half-time.
Gloucester improved their game further in the second half, with Zach Mercer and Ruan Ackermann applying pressure and the scrum becoming dominant, with the Ospreys repeatedly being penalized for attacking forwards.
Carreras has the highest kicking success rate in the Premiership this season and gave Bridgend a breather with three unanswered penalties.
Gloucester rugby director George Skivington said:
“After missing too many tackles in the league game against Bristol, [a 33-24 defeat]we focused on defense the last two weeks, so I'm really happy with how we did in that area.
“We knew the Ospreys were going to come at us hard at the breakdown but they got in on us early and caught us on the counter with some great tries.
“Even though we were only 14-13 at the interval, I was happy that we were doing the right things, but overall we just weren't precise enough.
“We have been lucky to secure a number of knockout games at home so far this season and the more we bring to Kingsholm the better.”
Ospreys defensive coach Mark Jones told BBC Radio Wales:
“I'm really proud of the effort. We didn't fall short and there was some quality in the patch, but we gave out 15, 16 penalties and had unforced errors in different areas of the game. That means the match will end up like this.'' It's very difficult to win away in the quarter-finals.
“Sometimes you get what you deserve and with the number of penalties and the number of errors we probably deserve to be on the losing side.
“We've been playing better and we knew we had to play better to win on the road.”
Gloucester: Santi Carreras. Jonny May, Max Llewellyn, Seb Atkinson, Jake Morris. Adam Hastings, Stephen Barney. Jamal Ford-Robinson, Seb Blake, Kirill Gotovtsev, Freddie Clark, Freddie Thomas, Luan Ackerman, Louis Ludlow (Capt.), Zach Mercer.
Replacement: Santi Socino, Meiko Vivas, Fraser Balmain, Albert Tuicheux, Jacques Clement, Caolan Engelfield, Charlie Atkinson, Chris Harris.
Osprey: Jack Walsh. Luke Morgan, Kieran Williams, Owen Watkin, Kieran Giles. Owen Williams, Reuben Morgan Williams. Gareth Thomas, Sam Parry, Tom Botha, James Ratty, Adam Beard, Hari Deeves, Justin Tipuric (Captain), Morgan Morris.
Replacement: Lewis Lloyd, Nicky Smith, Rhys Henry, Hugh Sutton, Morgan Morse, Luke Davies, Dan Edwards, Max Nagy.
Referee: Pierre Bourset (France)
Assistant referee: Toual Trainini (France) and Jeremy Rozier (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)