Gloucester Rugby had to hold on during the final ten minutes of the EPCR Challenge Cup Top 16 match to secure a well-deserved 24-17 win over Montpellier Hérault Rugby.
Montpellier was clearly on a mission from the get-go, grabbing the tie’s first score in four minutes through Anthony Bouthier.
Hugo Reus then inflicted more pain on the visitors six minutes later for a two-try deficit. But it wasn’t enough to sink the Gloucester hopes.
The English side saw two crosses ruled out by the TMO but finally got themselves a legal score in 25 minutes, thanks to Freddie Thomas.
That didn’t stop the Cherry and Whites, and they were level before long - Cameron Jordan went over to bring things level.
But it was Montpellier who went into the dressing room with their noses in front of at half-time through a Hugo Reus penalty.
Despite a late concede in the first-half, Gloucester look like the dominant side coming out for the second-half.
After almost 20 minutes of second-half stalemate, Gloucester were the ones to get the next score through the hands of Ruan Ackermann.
With their noses now in front, it was going to require some sturdy and watertight defending from Gloucester.
And that’s just what the English side managed for the final 10 minutes, resisting any Montpellier attack. Santiago Carreras put the cherry on the cake for the visitors to end it, converting a long-distance penalty.
Scorers:
Montpellier Hérault Rugby: Tries: Anthony Bouthier, Hugo Reus. Conversions: Hugo Reus (2). Penalty: Hugo Reus.
Gloucester Rugby: Tries: Freddie Thomas, Cameron Jordan, Ruan Ackermann. Conversions: Santiago Carreras (3). Penalty: Santiago Carreras.
Teams
Montpellier Hérault Rugby: 15 Anthony Bouthier, 14 Pierre Lucas, 13 Thomas Darmon, 12 Arthur Vincent, 11 George Bridge, 10 Hugo Reus, 9 Leo Coly, 8 Billy Vunipola (c), 7 Sam Simmonds, 6 Lenni Nouchi, 5 Mahonri Ngakuru, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 2 Christopher Tolofua, 1 Enzo Forletta. Replacements: 16 Lyam Akrab, 17 Nika Abuladze, 18 Wilfrid Hounkpatin, 19 Nicolas Martins, 20 Alex Becognee, 21 Martin Doan, 22 Auguste Cadot, 23 Thomas Vincent.
Gloucester Rugby: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Jacob Morris, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Freddie Thomas, 4 Cameron Jordan, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ciaran Knight. Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18 Afolabi Fasogbon, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Harry Taylor, 21 Deian Gwynne, 22 Charlie Chapman, 23 Will Butler.