Gloucester 19 Leeds Carnegie 0: Stubborn effort by Leeds fails despite Tindall blow for hosts

Leeds head coach Neil Back said after defeat at Kingsholm: "We created a lot of chances but we have to support our line-breaks better. The fact that we are creating them is positive but we didn't take those opportunities and, ultimately, that is where we were."

Back was not pleased with the interpretations of referee Rob Debney either.

He added: "We have played top Premiership clubs in the last four games – Leicester, Saracens, Sale and Wasps – and we have been dominant in the scrum.

"We have been heavily penalised in that area today so I was a bit confused. We have a 15 to 30 second delay (on their coaching laptop computers in the stand) so we can watch it.

"And the fact that the penalty was 15-2 until the last 15 minutes meant again I was confused with a lot of those decisions but, as normal, we will go through the process of requesting that Tony Spreadbury (the match referee assessor) goes through the game and, hopefully, he can give some answers."

Nicky Robinson scored all of Gloucester's points as they ground out a hard-fought victory to continue their late push for a top-six finish and Heineken Cup qualification.

The Wales fly-half scored a try, which he converted, and kicked four penalties as the Cherry and Whites proved too strong for their visitors.

But it was not all good news for Gloucester, who face a trip to Newcastle in midweek and a home game with Saracens on Easter Saturday, as they lost England centre Mike Tindall to injury.

The 31-year-old, who impressed in England's brave Six Nations loss to France in Paris, limped off after just six minutes of this match.

Tindall clutched his left groin after pulling up in the early exchanges. He only returned from hamstring trouble, which put him out of England's Autumn Tests on November, earlier this month.

Another Yorkshireman, James Simpson-Daniel, switched to the centre but the lack of Tindall's influence and control was noticeable.

Gloucester were unbeaten in the last eight home games in all competitions before kick-off, while Leeds had stunned many by climbing away from the foot of the table.

They had not lost in the Premiership since Valentine's Day and had beaten Wasps and high-flying Saracens in their three-win run, looked to cause the Cherry and Whites problems early on.

Prop Juan Gomez nearly scored under a pile of bodies after pressure inside the home 22.

Then big Fijian Seru Rabeni, a thorn in the side of the hosts throughout the first-half, almost grabbed a try when he was away and clear.

Only a super covering tackle by Gloucester full-back Freddie Burns stopped the big centre getting over the line.

Gloucester's attacking threat was minimal and the match remained scoreless until Leeds began infringing within range of fly-half Robinson.

The former Cardiff Blues man gratefully accepted three kicks that put his side 9-0 up at the break, a deficit Leeds hardly deserved.

The margin grew greater in the home side's favour just 40 seconds into the second-half when Leeds infringed 45 metres from their posts to give Robinson a long but successful fourth penalty shot.

Gloucester, though, suffered another blow when their captain and No 8, Wales international Gareth Delve, limped off after 47 minutes with an ankle injury.

Limp was also a good description of the rest of the match up until the last 10 minutes when Gloucester moved up a gear and put Leeds under the cosh.

A couple of deep attacks from Leeds came to nothing, and fly-half Ceiron Thomas missed a long-range penalty on the hour.

Eventually, though, a try came when Robinson, hanging around a ruck on the Leeds 22, saw a gap between Thomas and inside centre Scott Barrow and grubber-kicked through towards the line and just beat covering flanker Hendre Fourie to the touchdown for a converted score.

For all their stubborn effort, Leeds were not even able to claim a losing bonus point as they finished the match without a score to their name.

They had been disrupted prior to kick-off when young replacement fly-half Joe Ford was ruled out after failing fitness test on his back and was replaced by Jason Strange.

Of Wakefield's Tindall, Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath said: "He tweaked his groin in the first play of the game. It is unrelated to his hamstring injury.

"He just doesn't seem to have any luck with Gloucester. He played 55 to 60 minutes last week without a problem but it is just one of those things."

Regarding his captain, Redpath added: "Delve got a pinch in his ankle which is an impingement of the joint. You cannot tell straight away, you have to wait 72 hours, really, but he does not come off lightly so it must be reasonable enough to rule him out for Wednesday, I would guess.

"It was a decent win and four points against a side which has not lost in five games. It was a scrappy game but it was good to get the (winning) points.

"They have been pretty dogged and we knew that would be the case so we had to work to win the game."

Gloucester: Burns, Simpson-Daniel, Tindall, Fuimaono-Sapolu, Vainikolo, Robinson, R. Lawson, Wood, S Lawson, Capdevielle, James, Bortolami, Buxton, Qera, Delve. Replacements: Voyce for Burns (62), Sharples for Tindall (5), A. Williams for Fuimaono-Sapolu (75), Dickinson for Wood (58), Harden for Capdevielle (70), Hazell for Qera (71), Eustace for Delve (46). Not used: Azam.

Leeds Carnegie: Hinton, Fa'afili, Rabeni, Barrow, Blackett, Thomas, Mathie, MacDonald, Titterrell, Gomez, Lund, Wentzel, Myall, Fourie, Oakley. Replacements: Welding for Hinton (61), Swainston for Gomez (58), Clark for Myall (58), To'oala for Oakley (61). Not used: Ma'asi, Hardy, Bedford, Strange.

Referee: R Debney (Leicestershire).

Scores

Gloucester – Tries: Robinson. Cons: Robinson. Pens: Robinson 4.