Gloucester Rugby 31-7 Scarlets: Gloucester Player Ratings after dominance under the lights
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Five tries for Gloucester on a cold Friday night saw the West country side overpower the Scarlets defence.
Gloucester started off strong with two tries within the first twenty minutes. A show and go by Caolan Englefield caught the Scarlets defence off guard after four minutes and then a powerful maul allowed for Jack Clement to thunder over 18 minutes in. Santi Carreras was successful with both attempts from the tee giving the Cherry and Whites a 14-0 lead a quarter way through the match.
A dominant first half display saw Gloucester score a third try just after the half hour mark when another powerful maul gave the Gloucester back line a numerical advantage and George Barton outran Ioan Nicholas to score in the corner. Carreras missed his first kick of the night.
HALF TIME – GLOUCESTER 19-0 SCARLETS
Gloucester started the second half on the front foot when another driving maul saw replacement hooker Seb Blake bundle over for a try bonus point for Gloucester. Carreras missed the kick putting the score at 24-0 with half hour to go.
A dull period of play was broken when Scarlets centre Eddie James broke the Gloucester defensive shape and sped past Josh Hathaway to score under the posts in the 65th minute. Lloyd was successful with his first kick of the night putting the score at 24-7 with 15 minutes remaining.
Gloucester put an end to any chance of a Scarlets come back when a beautiful tackle by Chris Harris dislodged the ball out of James's hands and allowed for Christian Wade to kick the ball the length of the pitch and past the try line for an easy put down for the Englishman. Barton got his first kick of the night restoring Gloucester's 24 point lead.
MOTM: Santi Carreras
Gloucester
Tries: 5 (Englefield 4', Clement 18', Barton 31', Blake 51', Wade 74')
Conversions: 3 (Carreras 5' 19', Barton 75')
Penalties: 0
Yellow cards: 0
Red cards: 0
15. George Barton 14. Christian Wade 13. Chris Harris 12. Max Llewellyn (67') 11. Josh Hathaway 10. Santi Carreras (74') 9. Caolan Englefield 1. Mayco Vivas (40') 2. Jack Singleton (40') 3. Ciaran Knight (60') 4. Freddie Thomas (53') 5. Arthur Clark 6. Jack Clement 7. Lewis Ludlow (captain) (60') 8. Ruan Ackermann
Replacements
16. Seb Blake (40') 17. Jamal Ford-Robinson (40') 18. Kirill Gotovtsev (60') 19. Freddie Clarke (53') 20. Albert Tuisue (60') 21. Tomos Williams 22. Charlie Atkinson (67') 23. Jake Morris(74')
Scarlets
Tries: 1 (James 65')
Conversions: 1 (Lloyd 65')
Penalties: 0
Yellow cards: 0
Red cards: 0
15. Ioan Lloyd 14. Ellis Mee 13. Macs Page 12. Eddie James 11. Blair Murray (68') 10. Sam Costelow (12') 9. Archie Hughes (51') 1. Kemsley Mathias (51') 2. Marnus van der Merwe (61') 3. Henry Thomas (66') 4. Alex Craig 5. Max Douglas (51') 6. Taine Plumtree 7. Josh Macleod (58') 8. Vaea Fifita
Replacements
16. Shaun Evans( 61') 17. Alec Hepburn (51') 18. Gabe Hawley (66') 19. Sam Lousi (51') 20. Jarrod Taylor (58') 21. Gareth Davies (51') 22. Joe Roberts (68')23. Ioan Nicholas (12')
Gloucester player ratings
Mayco Vivas- 7/10– A decent performance from the Argentine, Vivas got stuck in with some strong tackles and a couple of decent carries saw the loose head prop have another decent game. His standout moment being preventing a Scarlets try by holding the man up on the line. Another good game in what has been a solid season.
2 Jack Singleton- 5/10 – A 40 minute cameo from Singleton saw the hooker do ok in the first half. A couple of turned over lineouts, which Gloucester were lucky Scarlets didn't utilise the turnovers, sees the Englishman's rating drop to a five.
3 Ciaran Knight- 6/10- Knight's evening ended on the hour mark after the tighthead prop put in a great shift. He did a lot of the dirty work and was a prominent figure in the three mauls which set up Gloucester tries. However, he was kept quiet in attack preventing him from getting a higher rating.
4 Freddie Thomas- 7/10- Thomas is having an unbelievable breakout season and with another strong showing today he is quickly securing himself as one of the first names on the Gloucester team sheet. The Welshman has been an integral part of the Gloucester pack and is certainly on Warren Gatland's radar for a six nations call up.
5 Arthur Clark- 6/10- Just like Thomas, Clark has been superb this season, slightly quieter tonight than usual, however. Gloucester fans will feel extremely happy with their second row partnership with years to come. Two outstanding young players will keep the Cherry and White faithful cheering for years to come.
6 Jack Clement- 8/10- Clement is a force to be reckoned with, got on the scoresheet again tonight to add to his growing tally for the season, a pair of turnovers and a handful of strong carries sees Clement once again stand out as a great talent. Theres a lot of competition in the back row for England, but with form like this I struggle to see how Steve Borthwick can leave him out of his Six Nations squad.
7 Lewis Ludlow- 8/10- The Cherry and White captain led from the front as he usually does. A menace at the breakdown winning multiple penalties and a commanding figure at the lineout, Ludlow stood out as one of the best players on the pitch.
8 Ruan Ackermann- 7/10- The South African has been an ever present figure at the foot of the scrum for Gloucester over the past few years and its clear to see why. Explosive in attack and solid in defence, Ackermann is one of the unsung heroes of this Gloucester side. A good performance today just like the rest of the Gloucester pack sees Ackermann receive a 7/10.
9 Caolan Englefield- 8/10- Fresh off the back of signing a new contract to keep him at Kingsholm, Englefield conducted the tempo well. He was sharp and switched on with pace and change of direction allowing Gloucester to catch the Scarlets defence sleeping as shown with his try four minutes in.
10 Santi Carreras- 8/10– Gloucester will be hoping that Carreras's injury isn't too serious after the Argentine was pulled off with just 5 minutes remaining. The fan favourite had another strong game and his command of the offense and tactical kicking game was superb. A bit of poor day off the tee however, with 50% efficiency sees the cult hero at Kingsholm receive an 8/10.
11 Josh Hathaway- 6/10– Unlucky is how I would describe Hathaway tonight, a pair of tries escaped him with drops on the line. Apart from that he was solid just as he has been so far this season. Still areas to work on defensively but that comes with time and he is an outstanding talent that Gloucester will be hoping to keep hold of for the future.
12 Max Llewellyn- 6/10- It was a quiet night for Llewellyn, the Welshman didn't see as much of the ball as he would've hoped.However, defensively he was solid, got stuck in with a plethora of tackles and kept the Gloucester line in shape well.
13 Chris Harris- 7/10– A slightly better performance than his centre partner tonight, Harris is a stone wall of a defender and has for ages been considered as one of the best defensive centres in the world. The British and Irish Lion stepped in as captain when Ludlow went off as injured and his powerful tackling helped Gloucester turn over the ball multiple times, one of which was turned into a try.
14 Christian Wade- 8/10– Many questioned whether Wade still had the speed of his younger days when Gloucester signed him at the start of the season and I think that questions has been answered, yes he does, Wade ran the entire length of the pitch outpacing four Scarlets defenders to score in the final minutes of the match. From the first minute to the last, Wade was lively and creative in attack providing Gloucester with multiple options.
15 George Barton- 8/10– The natural fly half slotted in well at full back tonight, got himself on the scoresheet and provided many opportunities for the hosts to increase their lead throughout.
REPLACEMENTS
16 Seb Blake- 7/10- What an impact Blake made tonight; from the minute he came on he was electric. He's been very strong all season and with another solid performance tonight he is certainly challenging for the starting spot at hooker.
17 Jamal Ford-Robinson- 6/10 – A simple 40 minutes for Ford-Robinson, the replacement loosehead did all the simple stuff well tonight and kept himself busy.
18 Kirill Gotovtsev – 6/10- Gotovtsev came onto the pitch to a big cheer from the Kingsholm crowd, he's been solid this season and the crowd love the long time servant of the club. Just like Ford-Robinson he did all the simple stuff well tonight and gave some energy to the Gloucester pack whence came on.
19 Freddie Clarke- 7/10- Another crowd favourite, Clarke came onto the pitch and immediately caused havoc, his 30 minute cameo was full of tackles and defensive brilliance. A good performance from the replacement lock
20 Albert Tuisue- 5/10- A quiet night for the Fijian as he only got 20 minutes off the bench, a couple of sloppy mistakes provided Scarlets with the opportunities to attack however they were never capitalised on.
21 Tomos Williams – N/A
22 Charlie Atkinson- 6/10- The young Englishman slotted in at inside centre instead of his usual fly half position tonight and he slotted in well. The young prospect is one of the brightest stars of the future and every minute under his belt is vital. He had a short ten minute cameo but was creative during this period and provided Gloucester with some added flair.
23 Jake Morris – N/A
Five talking points.
1. Englefield's new contract- The young scrum half put pen to paper earlier in the week and extended his stay at Kingsholm. He's been excellent with the minutes he has had over the past couple of seasons and is thought of highly at Kingsholm. George Skivington spoke highly of Englefield this evening calling him "an outstanding young player, he pushed ahead of Steve (Varney) and that's why Steve came in and asked to leave". It is clear that Englefield is held in high regard and with each game he grows more and more into the role.
2. Gloucester defensive masterclass- in two of their last three home games, Gloucester have held their opponents to zero and seven points respectively. It is clear that much work has been done over the season to improve the Gloucester defence from the side that at the start of the season were seen as high flying scorers but weak defenders.
3. Skivington balancing all three competitions- This season unlike last, Gloucester are challenging for the playoff places in the league providing George Skivington an extra level of planning and squad rotation. He stated "come the back end of the season I don't think any English team will be in all three competitions, there might be one or two squads who can carry it, it's important to be competitive in the early stages." One cup win and one final loss last season provides this Gloucester side with the experience they need to go all the way once again this season.
4. "The fifth region"- many have described Gloucester this season as "the fifth Welsh region" due to the teams five outstanding Welsh players, all of which have made their case to be selected in Warren Gatland's six nations squad. A mixture of youth and experience sees Gloucester's Welshmen provide an extra gear to the Gloucester team which they were missing last season.
5. A perfect start to 2025- It's been two back to back wins for the Cherry and Whites to start the year, they'll be hoping to carry this form forward for the remainder of the season and if they perform like they did tonight they'll be a hard team to beat for any team. It's a great time to be a fan of the Cherry and Whites with many promising talents coming through and some quality players leading from the front, the future is bright at Kingsholm.
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