Gloucester sweep Exiles aside

Gloucester ran in two unanswered tries to comfortably beat London Irish 23-9 in the Aviva Premiership at Kingsholm on Friday.

Gloucester moved up to third in the Premiership after their forwards pummelled London Irish into submission.

A seventh successive win in all competitions - and 15th home league victory on the bounce - was never under threat once skipper Luke Narraway crossed for an early try.

Fly-half Nicky Robinson chipped in with 13 points, while flanker Akapusi Qera added a second-half touchdown as Irish registered two Chris Malone penalties and a Tom Homer strike.

Gloucester, unbeaten since New Year's Day, are now just two points behind second-placed Saracens and hold a game in hand on both the Hertfordshire club and leaders Leicester.

Robinson and Malone exchanged penalties during a tepid opening, and Robinson slotted another penalty before Narraway claimed a touchdown that Robinson converted.

And there was no end to the misery for Irish, who then had prop Clarke Dermody sin-binned for not rolling away at a ruck, handing Robinson another penalty chance that he gratefully accepted.

Homer landed a long-range penalty on the stroke of half-time, but Irish still had a mountain to climb.

Malone's second successful penalty briefly cut the deficit, only for Gloucester to move up a gear and sting Irish through a superbly-executed try.

Hooker Scott Lawson made the telling pass of a flowing move, helping create space that freed full-back Olly Morgan before supporting substitute Qera finished off.

Robinson added the extras, leaving Gloucester with almost 30 minutes to push for two further tries and secure a five-point maximum.

The scorers:

For Gloucester:
Tries: Narraway, Qera
Cons: Robinson 2
Pens: Robinson 3

For London Irish:
Pens: Malone 2, Homer

Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Tim Molenaar, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Rory Lawson,8 Luke Narraway (capt),7 Andrew Hazell, 6 Peter Buxton, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Will James, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Olivier Azam, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Alasdair Strokosch, 20 Akapusi Qera, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jonny May

London Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Seilala Mapusua (Captain), 11 Tom Homer, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 George Stowers, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Kieran Roche, 5 Kieran Low, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 James Buckland, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring; 17 Alex Corbisiero; 18 Paulica Ion; 19 Gary Johnson; 20 Richard Thorpe; 21 Marcus Watson; 22 Dan Bowden; 23 Ryan Lamb

Venue: Kingsholm