Glaws need reaction to Quins hammering

What better way to recover from a good trolleying than a Premiership derby against your oldest and fiercest rivals? Well, foir Gloucester there are those who believe that facing Bath at Kingsholm on Saturday is the perfect antidote toi Harlequins blues.

Nobody ever needs a build-up to a Glaws-Barff game, but if there wasn’t already some incentive for winning, it came last weekend at the Stoop.

Losing was bad enough, losing 42-6 was worse and losing in the way they did borders on the unforgiveable for Glaws.

So there has hopefully been a lot of soul-searching this week as players and coaches alike try to get to the bottom of the toothless display against Harlequins.

It was a result that turned Gloucester’s prospects from promising to worrying and while one result and one performance don’t ruin a season, ones like that certainly don’t do it any good.

It saw Glaws tumble from fourth to tenth in the table, while Bath are up to third after their 23-19 home win over early leaders Exeter.

Glaws skipper Peter Buxton certainly believes that the team must learn from the Quins hammering.

He told the Citizen:  "We've got to move on and prepare for Bath. If we can prepare properly and beat Bath, then some of the hurt will be lifted.

"At the end of the day it's four points lost over the season.

"It's still a big deal, and I would never say the Quins performance was anything other than unacceptable.

"But the challenge now is to make up for it, and be disciplined enough on the field to be able to put it behind us.

"We've got to restore pride as a minimum, and we've got to do everything we can to battle for victory.

"Beating Bath would not excuse the Quins result, but we've got enough time and matches to turn that performance and result into the exception rather than the rule."

Bryan Redpath has already admitted the performance was unacceptable and embarrassing and insists the players must learn from their many mistakes in the Quins game.

“I was very disappointed with the dullness of the performance,” he said. “we had highlighted a number of aspects of the game, including our discipline. But we weren’t good enough and we were punished for it.

“We need to take a good look at ourselves.”

That has no doubt included a good look at the horror-show video of the game and if ever a team needed to put in a reaction to a poor performance, Glaws do against Bath.

MEANWHILE, in New Zealand Glaws star Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu will not be disciplined for the Twitter rant against RWC officials after he and his Samoa team-mates were given only three days between matches.

He used intemperate language and his comparison with apartheid and slavery was wrong, but basically ... he was right. The way rugby's "lesser" nations are being exploited in order to make the tournament a success is a disgrace.

He and his national officials have apologised, but hopefully that doesn't mean the way Samoa and other "second division" teams are treated will be swept under the RWC carpet.