Gloucester shut out Leeds
Gloucester continued their late push for a top-six finish and Heineken Cup qualification with a 19-0 victory over Leeds.
Last Updated: 27/03/10 6:59pm
Gloucester continued their late push for a top-six finish and Heineken Cup qualification with a 19-0 victory over Leeds.
Wales fly-half Nicky Robinson scored all his side's points, including a converted try, as the Cherry and Whites proved too strong at Kingsholm.
The victory however, did come at a price for Gloucester, who lost England centre Mike Tindall to injury just six minutes into the game.
The loss of Tindall, who impressed during England's RBS Six Nations defeat in France last week, will come as a blow to the hosts, who face a trip to Newcastle midweek and play host to Saracens on Easter Saturday.
Leeds, who climbed away from the foot of the table with a three-win run that included the scalps of London Wasps and high-flying Saracens, did cause problems for Gloucester early on.
Superb
Prop Juan Gomez almost scored after pressure inside the home 22 and giant Fijian centre Seru Rabeni came close when he was clear and away to the line.
Rabeni, who was a thorn in the side of the home team throughout the first-half, was only stopped by a superb covering tackle from full-back Freddie Burns.
The match remained scoreless until Leeds began infringing within range of fly-half Robinson, who gratefully accepted three kicks that took his side into the break 9-0 up.
Robinson extended the lead with a long range effort just 40 seconds into the second-half when Leeds were penalised 45 metres from their posts.
But Gloucester suffered another blow on 47 minutes when skipper Gareth Delve limped off with an ankle injury.
Pressure
The Cherry and Whites looked as if they were happy to sit back on their lead until the game entered the final 10 minutes, when they upped the tempo and began to put Leeds under the cosh
Visiting fly-half Ceiron Thomas missed a long-range penalty on the hour before Robinson, lurking behind a ruck on the Leeds 22, spotted a gap between Thomas and inside centre Scott Barrow.
The former Cardiff Blues man kicked through towards the line and beat covering flanker Hendre Fourie to the loose ball over the try-line.
Leeds, for all their efforts, drew a blank on the scoreboard, leaving them unable even to claim a crucial losing bonus point.
