Gloucester Three

Minchinhampton 51 Gloucester All Blues 5

MINCHINHAMPTON continued their unbeaten run in style, making it six wins from six – and they were bolstered by the debut of rugby royalty in the shape of Mike Tindall.

The Gloucester and England stalwart, now retired from the professional game, slotted in seamlessly as Minch raced to a bonus-point victory over the visiting All Blues in front of a good home crowd.

Minch started brightly and Tom Fox scored the first of his hat-trick of tries within the opening minutes. Both packs worked hard throughout, with parity at scrum and line-out.

Sufficient good ball was provided to the Minch backs for a healthy gap to be opened by half-time, with Tindall and fellow debutant Max Burden both working effectively to create space out wide for Fox and Humberstone to capitalise from the wings.

Jake Muskett added three points from a penalty to bring the half to a close.

With the All Blues still very much in the game, Minch continued to pile on the pressure.

Jenns, Sparkhall and Kimber gave no ground to the hard-running opposition, and the home pack took charge of the breakdown, showing an excellent work-rate.

It wasn’t long before the bonus point was secured; Tindall and Allen created space in the midfield, and this time it was Kimber who ran in from 30 yards.

Allen scored himself shortly afterwards – a move straight off the training field – and both Fox and Humberstone kept their tally growing in the second half.

The visitors never gave up, though, and their spirit eventually paid off. A series of penalties against the hosts gave All Blues an attacking scrum from five yards, and despite strong defending the All Blues’ tenacious scrum-half scored.

But it was Minchinhampton, playing with confidence and determination, who remained in control.

Hiatt went over for Minch's eighth try and though it was handy to have a World Cup winner in the midfield, the result was due to an all-round team effort.

Club captain Matt Austin said: “Today was special for many reasons, but what’s really great is how the team’s performances are growing every week.

"Every man wearing green, black and white today can pat themselves on the back for a job well done; with six wins from six games I’m a very happy man.”