The boot of fly-half Adam Hastings secured a 21-20 win for Gloucester Rugby at Edinburgh Rugby, confirming their spot in the EPCR Challenge Cup Round of 16.
The two teams matched each other throughout the game and were separated by just two points at the break.
Glen Young had opened the scoring with the half’s only try, the conversion missed by Ben Healy before Hastings knocked over the first of his four penalties to ensure the visiting side were in touching distance, the score 05-03 at half-time.
Gloucester Rugby then burst into the lead after the break with Louis Rees-Zammit, who ran half the length of the pitch for an unconverted score.
Healy kicked a penalty, but Hastings responded in kind and added two of his own to hand the Gallagher Premiership side a seven-point lead.
The hosts then struck back with two scores, Ewan Ashman and Ben Vellacott wrestling back power for Edinburgh Rugby, but with Healy only converting one Gloucester Rugby were able to take back the initiative when Hastings converted a Zach Mercer try, the visitors taking a 21-20 lead into the final 15 minutes.
But try as the hosts might, the one-point difference proved just enough and the visitors headed home with the win.
Scorers:
Edinburgh Rugby: Tries: Glen Young, Ewan Ashman, Ben Vellacott. Conversion: Ben Healy. Penalty: Ben Healy.
Gloucester Rugby: Tries: Louis Rees-Zammit, Zach Mercer. Conversion: Adam Hastings. Penalties: Adam Hastings (3).
Teams
Edinburgh Rugby: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Currie, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Glen Young, 5 Grant Gilchrist (captain), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 WP Nel, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Tom Dodd, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 James Lang, 23 Harry Paterson.
Gloucester Rugby: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Jonny May, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Jamal Ford-Robinson. Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Cameron Jordan, 20 Ruan Ackermann, 21 Steve Varney, 22 Max Llewellyn, 23 Lloyd Evans.