Gloucester 40-23 Benetton: Adam Hastings inspires Cherry and Whites to victory as George Skivington’s side book their place in the Challenge Cup final
- Adam Hastings scored 17 points as Gloucester defeated Benetton at Kingsholm
- Cherry and Whites will face Sharks in the Challenge Cup final later this month
Adam Hastings inspired Gloucester’s passage to a fifth Challenge Cup final with 17 points, including a try, in a convincing win over Benetton.
The Scottish fly-half pulled the strings in a five-try romp and will now hope to sign off with a trophy in the Kingsholm cabinet before his summer departure to Glasgow Warriors.
Gloucester will now take on South Africa’s Sharks in a showpiece final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 24.
βIt would be great to finish here helping the team win a trophy,β Hastings said.
βWe have put ourselves in a good position to get the job done, but there is still a huge challenge ahead of us. Sharks are an excellent team and have a lot of big guys.β
Adam Hastings scored 17 points as Gloucester defeated Benetton to book their place in the Challenge Cup final
The Scottish fly-half will look to end his career at Kingsholm on a high before joining Glasgow Warriors
Gloucester may have had a terrible time in the Premier League, but in Europe they were red hot. Tries from Josh Hathaway, hooker Seb Blake, Hastings, Freddie Clarke and Ollie Thorley took them a big step closer to repeating their 2006 and 2015 league victories.
They led the entire game, building a 15-6 lead after Hathaway and Blake tried.
Tomas Albornoz had kicked two penalties to Hastings’ spot, but five minutes before half-time Gloucester No. 8 Zach Mercer was adjudged for a deliberate trip on Rhyno Smith before Smith burst into the left corner for Benetton’s first try.
Victory sets up a showdown with South African side Sharks at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi got another score after the break but Gloucester took back control through Hastings and Clarke’s tries, the latter racing clear for an intercept score. Lucchesi crossed again but Thorley’s late try sealed the victory and sparked celebrations.
Gloucester boss George Skivington said: ‘Sharks are a huge team in every sense of the word. We will prepare as best we can, accept the challenge and do our utmost.β