Gloucester's set-piece game delivers victory over Edinburgh to open their Challenge Cup campaign

Gloucester Rugby braved the elements as they secured a bruising 15-10 victory against Edinburgh at Kingsholm on Friday night in the first pool stage game of the 2024/25 EPCR Challenge Cup.

The Cherry and Whites were the first on the board in a first 40 minutes where neither side could gain the upper hand as Seb Blake profited off the back of a vicious rolling maul to give the home side a lead. The handling let both teams down in the wet as it came down to a tough set piece battle with neither side able to gain the upper hand.

But it would be the visitors who showcased the first bit of running rugby resulting in a try through Wes Goosen. The full-back powered through Gareth Anscombe, releasing the ball before regathering it and then fended off another attempted to score in scintillating style.

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The second half brought more of the same challenging weather and attritional style of play with Gloucester getting the first points on the board through a Santiago Carreras penalty. The hosts put their formerly dominant rolling maul to good work again midway through the second half and this time it was Albert Tuisue who was the beneficiary. The big back rower clinging onto the back of a maul that had some speed to dot down and give the home side a bit of breathing room.

Ben Healy then knocked over a late Edinburgh penalty to give them a losing bonus point and Gloucester could leave a battered Kingsholm with four points and a win before heading to Vannes next weekend.

Gloucester Rugby: 15. Santiago Carreras, 14. Christian Wade, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Max Llewellyn, 11. Josh Hathaway, 10. Gareth Anscombe, 9. Caolan Englefield, 1. Val Rapava Ruskin, 2. Seb Blake, 3. Kirill Gotovtsev, 4. Arthur Clark, 5. Matias Alemanno, 6. Freddie Thomas, 7. Lewis Ludlow, 8. Ruan Ackermann

Replacements: 16. Jack Singleton, 17. Ciaran Knight, 18. Afolabi Fasogbon, 19. Harry Taylor, 20. Albert Tuisue, 21. Charlie Chapman, 22. Will Butler, 23. George Barton

Edinburgh Rugby: 15. Wes Goosen, 14. Ross McCann, 13. Matt Currie, 12. Mosese Tuipulotu, 11. Nathan Sweeney, 10. Ross Thompson, 9. Ben Vellacott (c), 1. Boan Venter, 2. Paddy Harrison, 3. Paul Hill, 4. Marshall Sykes, 5. Sam Skinner, 6. Tom Dodd, 7. Freddy Douglas, 8. Magnus Bradbury

Replacements: 16. Dave Cherry, 17. Mikey Jones, 18. D'arcy Rae, 19. Rob Carmichael, 20. Liam McConnell, 21. Charlie Shiel, 22. Ben Healy, 23. James Lang