Lewis Ludlow previews Newcastle Falcons game

Lewis Ludlow’s 200th Gloucester Rugby appearance really was the stuff of fairy tales.

After running onto the pitch with his daughter Autumn in his arms, the captain scored as his side kicked off the new season with a last-gasp 29-28 victory over Harlequins.

The celebrations may have been raucous inside Kingsholm but they were more restrained at the Ludlow household later on Saturday evening, with a Chinese takeaway and a World Cup quarter-final double-header the perfect end to the perfect day, according to Gloucester’s double centurion.

With a short turnaround before Friday’s fixture against Newcastle Falcons, which will be broadcast live on PRTV, Ludlow knows he cannot dwell too much on his special day, but it’s one he will treasure for a long time to come.

“Winning at the end like that made it all the sweeter,” he said. “You had that huge outpour of emotion.

“We thought it was done, but then you get that little bit of hope, and we train relentlessly for that scenario.

“I knew once we got down there that we would score. We've had very similar finishes in a few games down in that corner.

“It's just the best feeling and to add that on top of scoring, and running out with my daughter, I could never have dreamed it going like that.

“I think the one time I got a little bit emotional was running out with her. She'd run out before with Mo Hunt for the women's semi-final and she loved it.

“You really can’t put into words what that feeling is like as a dad when you're running out with your daughter and she's buzzing, it’s amazing.”

For the Cherry & Whites, this was more than just an opening day victory and celebration of Ludlow’s service, it was an overdue win.

The last one came back in February – coincidentally another nail-biter against Harlequins – and Ludlow could not wait any longer to re-establish winning habits.

“I was so nervous before the game,” he said. “With the first match, everyone sort of wants it done and out the way because then you're into it and the weekly grind.

“It was a massive relief to get five posts in the bag, but we could also scrutinise ourselves a bit more and be a bit harsher with certain stuff.

“In review you can be a bit harder because there was a lot that went wrong, but there was also some brilliant stuff.

“What James Lightfoot Brown (new attack coach) has brought to the team and the way we have brought into his attacking mindset is something I haven’t experienced since being at Gloucester. It's very exciting.”

As if Ludlow’s weekend couldn’t get any better, he soared into the top five of Ed Slater’s Fantasy Premiership Rugby league – though he paid for advising his former teammate to pick Bath Rugby hat-trick hero Ben Spencer, and not adding the scrum-half to his own team.