Paul takes Gloucester to the high ground

Gloucester 29 Harlequins 11

There have been staff-cuts, threats of pay-cuts, and a raft of players expected to cut and run, but for a while yesterday all that was forgotten as Gloucester, to chants of "Champions, la, la, la", sealed first place in the Premiership with a comprehensive win.

This one was worth five points, after the four tries they ran in against courageous but ultimately ineffectual Harlequins, which guaranteed that Gloucester would finish the regular programme as top dogs and moral Premiership champions, whatever the play-offs' outcome.

The crowd certainly greeted their heroes as champions, as did their announcer, who, as they left the pitch, instructed the 11,000 crowd to "Hail the champions!" It would now be the unkindest cut of all if this, one of Gloucester's greatest seasons, were to end in defeat in the play-off final. And it would be disastrous if they were to have their existence threatened because of Tom Walkinshaw's financial problems.

Late last week Walkinshaw revealed that he was not even the owner of Gloucester, merely an employee of Hertfordshire-based company Try Investments, who hold shares in the club. The Kingsholm roar will reverberate for a few more years, but it is still a muddy old mess.

Thankfully Gloucester are getting it right on the pitch, although there was plenty of presence from Quins in a bruising opening quarter in which they lost centre Mel Deane in the 15th minute, when he had been left prone after trying get a hand on the elusive Marcel Garvey.

Gloucester's last minute loss of No 8 James Forrester did not seem to affect them unduly. The pack slugged it out at every step and had pace left at the end.

There was the odd unforced error, but Gloucester grew in confidence as the first half progressed. Henry Paul rounded off the first try, following excellent work by scrum-half Andy Gomarsall and prop Andy Deacon.

It was a moment of brilliance from Paul which set up the second. The ball had been moved left, but not fast enough and defenders were closing in when Paul, appreciating the need for more speed of hand, flicked the ball straight to Jake Boer, who galloped over for his ninth Premiership try. Ludovic Mercier converted both.

A couple of penalties from Quins fly-half Paul Burke kept them in touch. But after the interval Will Greenwood was tackled by Terry Fanolua, the ball fell to James Simpson-Daniel and the England flier needed no second invitation.

Mercier, whose kicking from hand was astonishing for its accuracy and length, had the honour of scoring the fourth, gathering his own chip after a chase, although his day was ruined when he was carried off with a suspected broken ankle late in the game. It turned out only to be twisted. Cue the immense relief.

Gloucester: T Delport; M Garvey, T Fanolua, H Paul, J Simpson-Daniel (R Todd, 82); L Mercier (S Amor, 71), A Gomarsall (C Stuart-Smith, 79); T Woodman (R Roncero, 79), O Azam (C Fortey, 67), A Deacon, A Eustace (E Pearce, 76), M Cornwell, J Boer (capt), J Paramore (P Buxton, 55), A Hazell.

Harlequins: N Williams; D Luger (R Jewell, 68), W Greenwood (L Sherriff, 79), M Deane (V Satala, 15), B Gollings; P Burke, W Fulton (S Bemand, 70); C Jones (J Dawson, 11), T Fuga, J Leonard, W Davison (K Rudzki, 67), S Miall, A Tiatia, A Diprose (R Winters, 62), A Vos (capt).

Referee: S Lander (Warrington).