DIRECTOR of rugby David Humphreys believes Gloucester’s first-half showing was their best of the Aviva Premiership Rugby season yet as they blew away Leicester Tigers in a 33-16 win.

The Cherry and Whites scored three first-half tries through Nick Wood, Charlie Sharples and Jonny May as Gloucester started like an express train against a Leicester side depleted through injuries.

The Tigers, down 30-9 at the break, did improve thereafter to prevent Gloucester from securing a bonus point but there was no taking away from an impressive performance from Humphreys’ men.

Greig Laidlaw was also on target from the tee, kicking three conversions and four penalties as Gloucester moved up to fifth in the Aviva Premiership table with their third win of the season.

“I think the first 40 minutes were as good as we’ve played this season,” said Humphreys. “We showed a lot of the aspects we’ve been working on, good set piece, good defence and we scored three very good tries.

“We didn’t deliver the 80-minute performance we’ve been talking about so there are still things to improve upon but there were aspects that we were certainly delighted with.

“It was a big effort in the first 60 minutes and that’s what allowed us to build a comfortable victory. We’ve said all along to give us the first six weeks to see where we are as a team. Over the course of the first five of those six weeks we have definitely shown aspects of improvement.

“For the first 40 minutes we were delighted with the way we played, and we are delighted to come away with a 33-16 win against a team that has been at the top of the Premiership since its inception.”

With the contest seemingly over at the break, Laidlaw extended the hosts lead shortly after the restart before the Tigers’ Niki Goneva was sent to the sin-bin although David Mele completed the scoring with a consolation try for the visitors.

The result means Leicester slump to their third successive loss in the Aviva Premiership and director of rugby Richard Cockerill admitted the Tigers had been caught second best.

“The first 20 minutes or so it was a very even game, then we made some poor decisions and it unravelled for ten minutes and we never recovered,” he said.

“We got beaten, we didn’t play as well as we could have done or should have done, and you get punished.

“The result is my responsibility. We are going to stick together as a club and work through the issues, and when we come out the other side we will be better for it.”

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