Gloucester late penalty falls short against Northampton

Adam Hastings missed a 45-metre angled penalty with the last kick of the match as Gloucester Rugby suffered a 31-29 Gallagher Premiership defeat to Northampton before a crowd of over 15,000 at Kingsholm.

Hastings’ failure took Gloucester’s losing run in the league to seven games but it was rough justice on them for they had dominated a one-sided second half. When the hosts trailed 24-7 after 35 minutes, another loss looked a near certainty but a yellow card for Saints centre Rory Hutchinson saw an instant change in momentum as Gloucester scored 22 unanswered points.

Freddie Clarke, Chris Harris, Matias Alemanno and Santiago Carreras scored their tries with Hastings - who was making his first league start of the campaign having recovered from a knee injury - adding three conversions and a penalty. Curtis Langdon scored two tries for Northampton, with Alex Mitchell, Alex Coles and Tom Litchfield also on the try-scoring sheet as Fin Smith added three conversions.

Northampton’s early pressure was rewarded with a fourth-minute try from Mitchell. Saints turned down a kickable penalty in favour of more attacking options and it proved the correct call when the scrum-half’ s outstretched hand proved just enough to secure the touchdown.

Saints continued their explosive start to score a second try within three minutes when Coles crashed over as Gloucester struggled to cope with their opponents’ power. Aided by a number of penalty awards in their favour, the home side gained a foothold in the match but thrice in quick succession, their famed driving line-out was thwarted by solid defence from Saints.