We have all seen enough mediocre rugby in our lives, so to suggest that this epic of 13 tries in front of an uproarious crowd might cause an inquest in the sport, might seem entirely bizarre. There is no doubting the spectacle, no doubting the wondrous thrill for Gloucester’s mighty faithful to see their team score nine tries against their oldest enemy, to see Christian Wade absolutely dazzling the evening with his brilliant running, and to see Seb Atkinson playing at international class in the ferocious feast of Gloucester tries.
Frankly, I have never heard the great old ground so loud, and even though the game fell to pieces just a little through sheer exhaustion, they were still roaring at every Gloucester dazzle and every Wade burst, until the final whistle.
But should rugby yield a game of 81 points and 13 tries, should a team so badly out-pointed as Bristol Bears be awarded a bonus point for four tries?
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More important, is rugby not meant to be a thunderous, if grim, forward confrontation? I have always loved it to be that way, while accepting that the professional sport needs new followers and spectacle.
The debate has already begun. One old groaner on the radio in the week rubbished the feast of high scoring in the Gallagher Premiership. He said that it was not real rugby, and that the saintly international game would never stoop to such excitement and pace. Rubbish. Most of international rugby’s relative lack of spectacle is down to sheer fright and nerves, and also pomposity. Some of the finest rugby judgments are to be found in these two magnificent clubs and they would not complain in that way.
If the game is speeding up, which it is, then international rugby must catch up and, on this evidence, they must also catch up with Wade and Atkinson, and the Welshman James Williams, who was so good for Bristol.
Do we get tired of endless action, or do we always revere the sort of skills that both sides showed us? It is beyond any doubt that a 3-0 mudbath can be epic too, but I feel that even in a rugby town that was built on the foundations of massive and grim old forwards (Gloucester) they will continue to love games like these.
And the West Country is booming. What a wonderful relief it must have been for all those bored witless by Twickenham admin failures, to see Bath, Gloucester and Bristol daring the devil.
Gloucester’s style involved pace, quick passing and looping, on the base of forward excellence founded on the scrummage of Afolabi Fasogbon and the vibrancy of the whole team. They scored tries by the hatful, with Wade speeding over early on after Charlie Atkinson had initiated the move with Tomos Williams; soon afterwards, a delightful pick-up and flick pass put Josh Hathaway over; Atkinson scored a glorious try after a run by Wade and the bonus point was easily secured by half-time.
Bristol deserved mighty credit for staying true to their attacking philosophies and the blunt truth is that bad defensive errors were few and far between and Bristol kept on fighting.
At one stage they were back at 29-21 after tries by Fitz Harding, James Williams and Max Lahiff. And at half-time, after another Wade special, Gloucester led 34-21.
The great problem when you are being attacked and losing ground, is that you become reckless in your efforts to get back in the game. And so Bristol never really threatened in the rest of the game. The excellent tries continued, with Wade completing a brilliant hat-trick, and towards the end replacements such as George Barton were joining in the try-scoring fun.
The win took Gloucester into the top four, and given the season is entering its dry-ground stage, they could well become contenders with their pacey game. They will need to prove that they still have defensive capability and graft, although, on this evidence, they are well on the way.
Bristol’s own positivity over the past few years has served them wonderfully. This was only their second Premiership away defeat for well over a season, and no doubt their coach, Pat Lam, will be rethinking — but not too much. His team on their day are as good as any, but the extra pace and zip and brilliance was all dressed in Kingsholm red.
The debate will continue, but Gloucester are bound to stick with what has worked for them so far. It takes some doing to re-imagine Gloucester as the epitome of attacking rugby and back-line devil. But here we must trust the evidence of our own eyes.
And a tribute, too, to the referee. Mr Christophe Ridley had to spend his afternoon sprinting around like a dervish in running spikes. He kept up really well, and played his part in the entertainment. Because entertainment it most definitely was. Rave on, Gloucester. Lam, the disappointed coach, put it well. “This was a great game for the kids too.”
