A good job they did. That cushion looked like being very handy as Ulster hung on until the Gloucester replacement Luke Narraway went over under the posts with two minutes left on the clock. Add three missed penalties from Paddy Wallace to the mix and the nerves would really have been jangling.”We didn’t play very well and you can’t hide from that,” said the coach. “We recognised that we have not played well in the last few weeks, but we also recognise that the conditions have been poor. When we wanted to play we found we were rusty.”After getting stuck in the mud against Bath in the league and then the Ospreys in Europe, a repeat of the first-leg hammering of Ulster at Ravenhill, when Gloucester racked up a bonus point in a record 23 minutes, was never going to happen, even though Lesley Vainikolo was again rumbling on the left wing.The Tongan, back from mourning the death of his father, was playing his first game since Brian Ashton added him to England’s Six Nations squad and his return and a couple of muscular charges were about enough to keep the crowd occupied throughout an error-strewn opening phase until the centre Mike Tindall, who joins Vainikolo in an England get-together today, spun his way through weak midfield tackling in the 19th minute to make the easiest of touchdowns for Akapusi Qera.The lead, and the relief that went with it, lasted less than two minutes. Isaac Boss, still smarting after being axed from Ireland’s squad, sold a dummy which the whole of Gloucester bought and he scampered a further 30 metres before Tommy Bowe pulled alongside the scrum-half to take the final pass.Gloucester were less than convincing but they did at least go into half-time ahead thanks to the collective strength of their pack and the power of the blindside flanker Alasdair Strokosch in particular. Twice warned after dropping a five-metre scrum, the Ulster forwards, under the cosh for most of the afternoon, went backwards for a third time before the Scotland flanker ended the ensuing muddle by bursting in under the posts.Again, relief was short-lived and again the Gloucester defence was left red-faced by an attack that was a man short, the left wing Mark McCrea in the sin-bin for upending Gareth Delve in mid-air. Within a minute of the restart Boss, Wallace and Paul Steinmetz carved Gloucester open with nifty interpassing, Andrew Trimble was home and the scores were level at 14-14 for 12 nervous minutes.That was when Qera got his second before Vainikolo set up Iain Balshaw for the try bonus which took Gloucester to 24 points and third seeding in the quarter-finals. However, Gloucester’s headaches and embarrassments weren’t quite over. Kieran Campbell, on for Boss, spotted McCrea out wide and found him with the most clinical of cross-kicks, and Bowe strolled home for his second try of the afternoon.As for Vainikolo, he joins up with England at Twickenham today after playing only 10 games of rugby union and missing nine more through neck injuries and family bereavements - the latter have meant two 24,000-mile round trips to New Zealand in the past two months.His brother died before Christmas and he was back in Auckland for the week-long funeral celebrations for his father when news of the England call-up and a possible debut against Wales on Saturday week came through.”When I got the call I went to my dad and told him before I told the rest of the family,” said Vainikolo, who managed just two training sessions before yesterday’s match. “It lifted the Vainikolo spirit and was a bit of good news that my dad’s name is going to be up there [in lights] soon.”Gloucester Balshaw; Simpson-Daniel, Tindall (Walker, 75), Allen, Vainikolo; Paterson (Lamb, 50), Lawson (Cooper, 74); Wood, Azam (Titterrell, 73), Nieto, Buxton, Bortolami (capt; James, 59), Strokosch, Qera, Delve (Narraway, 70).Tries Qera 2, Strokosch, Balshaw, Narraway.Cons Paterson 2.Ulster Bartholomeusz; Bowe, Trimble, Steinmetz (O’Connor, 70), McCrae; Wallace, Boss (Campbell, 76); Young, R Best (capt; Brady, 59), Fitzpatrick (Court, 59), Harrison (Del Fava, 70), Caldwell, McCullough, N Best (McMillan, 59), G Webb.Tries Bowe 2, Trimble Cons Wallace 3.Sin-bin McCrea 36.Referee R Poite (France). Attendance 12,480.
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