Charlie Atkinson outshines George Ford in front of Steve Borthwick as Gloucester win

Charles RichardsonRugby Reporter, at Kingsholm

The most consequential round of the Prem’s run-in kicked off with arguably the most inconsequential match, but a Charlie Atkinson masterclass saw Gloucester pip Sale and move a step closer to Champions Cup rugby next season.

Atkinson only has one cap for England but, on this evidence, overshadowing the great George Ford, there might be more in the pipeline. The Gloucester fly-half scored two tries – including the winner – to establish daylight between the hosts and Harlequins in ninth but his distribution and game management were marvellous, too. “Jalibert-esque,” George Skivington, Gloucester’s director of rugby, said as he compared Atkinson’s display to the magical French fly-half.

“He was great. Maybe a couple of passes to look back at but his ability to jink through and run hard lines, some of those moments were world class. He got the job done and won us the game. There were a lot of handling errors – a reflection of where we’re at – but we attacked that last five minutes and got what we deserved in the end.”

Neither side were playing for much beyond top-eight qualification on a still, spring night in the West Country. Gloucester wanted to seal European rugby while Sale, a place above them in the table, are probably safe in that regard.

The Sharks did learn this week, however, that their stalwart centre, Rob Du Preez, who started a Prem record 88 consecutive matches, had played his last game for the club after the hamstring injury sustained against Harlequins in the last round.

Atkinson’s display could not have been better timed given that Steve Borthwick, the England head coach who this week received the backing of the Rugby Football Union, was present under the lights at Kingsholm alongside his scrum lieutenant, Tom Harrison. There was a front-row battle between two tighthead tyros – Asher Opoku-Fordjour of Sale and Afo Fasogbon of Gloucester – to observe, too, and it was the latter, certainly at the scrum, who ended the night with the most credit in the bank.

Even if the visitors were pipped at the post by Atkinson’s try, Sale started the better, opening the scoring with a peach. Ford and Ernst van Rhyn combined in midfield before Tom O’Flaherty and Jacques Vermeulen timed their passes to perfection. Tom Roebuck drew in the remaining cover before blind-popping for Alfie Longstaff to score.

“Wildly frustrating,” Alex Sanderson, Sale’s director of rugby, said. “We didn’t have a platform to attack from. We started with endeavour and I was happy with the mentality but the accuracy was not good enough. And the only way you learn [about the scrum’s dark arts] is through having your head shoved up your a--- and finding a way out of it.”

Gloucester crossed the line three times but were denied on each occasion in a profligate first half. The air of frustration at Kingsholm, with Atkinson pulling the strings, was palpable.

The annoyance only grew when Sale added an improbable second. Seb Blake shelled Atkinson’s pass, Longstaff picked up, fed O’Flaherty, and the wing raced home.

Gloucester had dominated territory but were making errors. A Tomos Williams 50:22 – the ball could not have exited the playing area closer to the corner flag – changed everything. The hosts’ tails were up, laying siege to the Sale line. Eventually, Ben Loader powered over off first phase, but Sale’s front-line tackling, from Sam Dugdale and Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, left a lot to be desired.

With Gloucester’s scrum turning the screw, Atkinson ghosted his way over to level the scores and George Barton’s conversion gave the hosts the lead for the first time, in the 51st minute.

But Sale rallied. Ford hit a stunning drop goal to nudge the visitors back in front but it was his opposite number who took the spoils at the death.

Match details

Scoring sequence: 0-5 Longstaff try, 0-10 O’Flaherty try, 0-12 Ford con, 5-12 Loader try, 7-12 Barton con, 12-12 C Atkinson try, 14-12 Barton con, 14-15 Ford drop goal, 19-15 C Atkinson try, 21-15 Barton con.

Gloucester: G Barton; W Joseph, M Llewellyn, S Atkinson, B Loader; C Atkinson, T Williams (capt, Englefield 43); V Rapava Ruskin (Bleuler 57), S Blake (Innard 57), A Fasogbon (Knight 57), A Clark, M Alemanno (Eite 77), F Thomas, J Venter (Gwynne 61), W Trenholm (Clement 61). Replacement: Edwards-Giraud.

Sale: J Carpenter (James 51); T Roebuck (Reed 60), M Louw, R Ma’asi-White, T O’Flaherty (Roebuck 69); G Ford, G Warr (Hanson 65); R McEachran (Onasanya 48), A Longstaff (Austin 54), A Opoku-Fordjour (Harper 48), H Andrews (Woodman 45, Dugdale 64), B Bamber, E van Rhyn (capt), J Vermeulen, S Dugdale (Kelly 60).

Referee: Sara Cox.

Attendance: 11,024.