George Skivington's gamble to play field a second-string side away at Vannes on Saturday in their second pool stage game of the EPCR Challenge Cup failed to come in as the French club won 43-19 in just their second European outing ever.

But despite the defeat, qualification into the knockout rounds remains wide open in Pool 3 of the Challenge Cup with all six teams having won one, lost one, meaning Gloucester's fate is in their own hands with two more group games against the Scarlets and Bayonne to come in January.

After beating Edinburgh 15-10 in their tournament opener, the Cherry and Whites conceded three early tries against the Top 14 newcomers at Stade de la Rabine to give themselves an uphill task. The visitors were caught cold, conceding a length of the field try that was finished by flying winger Enzo Benmegal after just 51 seconds. And it was 14-0 inside three minutes as Michael Ruru then sniped over the line following a break from hooker Theo Beziat.

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It was raining tries in the opening quarter in Brittany as centre Chris Harris, captaining the side, opened Gloucester’s account through a score that George Barton created and then converted. But in just the ninth minute Ruru picked and drove over the line for the fourth five pointer of the contest.

A second try from a flying Benmegal appeared to take Vannes out of reach, yet Gloucester narrowed the gap to just seven points after touchdowns from hooker Gareth Blackmore and winger Jacob Morris, with Rory Taylor kicking one conversion having come on at fly-half with Barton making way after failing a HIA.

But Vannes were in no mood to let things slip, and a pair of driving maul tries finished by Karl Chateau and Cyril Blanchard underpinned an emphatic success.

Reflecting on the game, Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington said: "I think we deserved a bonus point out of that. I think the character and the attitude of those players and particularly in the second half, we were out there with a very young team. I thought their character was outstanding and they very nearly did it.

"There were a couple of errors, a couple of tough calls against us as momentum turned at the end there but I really thought we deserved a little bit more out of that game. But I am very, very pleased with what I saw with some of these players and that was the challenge at the beginning of the game.

"Ultimately we came to a fully loaded Vannes, we knew it was a massive day for them as a city. The attitude had to be number one and I thought some of our young players tonight really really showed us what they're about."

Gloucester now turn their attention to a relatively quick turnaround with Harlequins coming to Kingsholm in the league on Friday night with the two sides separated by just a point in the Gallagher Premiership.

RC Vannes: 15. Paul Surano, 14. Enzo Benmegal, 13. Robin Taccola, 12. Tani Vili, 11. Romaric Camou, 10. Maxime Lafage, 9. Michael Ruru, 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Theo Beziat, 3. Simon Bourgeois, 4. Anton Bresler, 5. Timothe Mezou, 6. Karl Chateau, 7. Francisco Gorrissen (c), 8. Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements : 16. Cyril Blanchard, 17. Charlesty Berguet, 18. Santiago Medrano, 19. Eric Marks, 20. Fabrice Metz, 21. Simon Augry, 22. Jules Lebail, 23. Inaki Ayarza

Gloucester Rugby: 15. Ioan Jones, 14. Jacob Morris, 13. Chris Harris (c), 12. Seb Atkinson, 11. Jack Reeves, 10. George Barton, 9. Charlie Chapman, 1. Mayco Vivas, 2. Morgan Nelson, 3. Kirill Gotovtsev, 4. Freddie Clarke, 5. Cameron Jordan, 6. Danny Eite, 7. Harry Taylor, 8. Albert Tuisue

Replacements: 16. Gareth Blackmore, 17. Archie McArthur, 18. Alfie Petch, 19. Deian Gwynne, 20. Caio James, 21. Caolan Englefield, 22. Rory Taylor, 23. Jack Cotgreave