On Saturday 3rd March, with the Super League Millennium Magic weekend waiting to kick off in Cardiff, Gloucester Warriors played host to Nottingham Outlaws. Pundits predicted a difficult fixture for the Outlaws as they had never previously beaten Gloucestershire at Chosen Hill. However, in a hard-fought encounter, the Outlaws were too sharp for the Warriors and they travelled home with a 14-42 victory under their belts.
The speed of the Outlaw’s attack in the first half caught the Warriors by surprise and the first score for the Outlaws came with only three minutes on the clock. Gloucestershire opened their scoring with a penalty and had a first half try disallowed for a marginal forward pass decision.
The Outlaws replied with two further tries, but failed to secure both conversions – raising the score to 2-16. Stung by this reversal the Warriors redoubled their attacking efforts and the Outlaws’ defence began to creak. The Warriors eventually pierced the Outlaws line to post a try under the posts just on the stroke of half time to claw the Outlaws lead back to 16-8.
The Outlaws started the second half at break-neck speed scoring three tries in quick succession to stretch the lead to 30-8.
The Warriors refused to be bowed and as the Outlaws defence began to tire the more physical Warriors pack began to get the upper hand. As the Warriors finally began to dominate field position a quick tap-penalty caught the Outlaws defence napping and Gloucestershire team scooted in for a converted try that pegged the score back to 30-14.
The last twenty minutes of the match were frustrating for the Warriors. Time and again Gloucestershire came agonizingly close to scoring only to be repelled by the Outlaws’ determined scrambling defence.
As the clock ticked down the Outlaws line held firm, sapping the energy out of a gallant Gloucestershire attack. As the game slipped away from the Warriors the Outlaws found renewed energy and broke out of defence, scoring a further two tries to seal the victory.
