Billy Burns hands Gloucester victory against Newcastle
Last Updated: 25/04/15 6:30pm
Billy Burns scored a last-minute try as Gloucester completed a remarkable comeback to beat Newcastle 42-40 in a thrilling Aviva Premiership game at Kingsholm.
The hosts trailed 40-23 late on, but scored three tries to overcome a stuttering performance which saw them lose key players through injury.
Jonny May, Sione Kalamafoni and Dan Murphy all left the field to cause Gloucester concern ahead of next Friday's European Challenge Cup final against Edinburgh.
They still scored five tries, with two from Billy Twelvetrees, one each from Dan Robson and Henry Purdy and Burns, with the fly-half kicking three penalties and four conversions for a match tally of 22 points.
Mark Wilson, Sinoti Sinoti, Scott Lawson and Josh Furno scored the Falcons' tries, with Rory Clegg converting all four and kicking four penalties.
Burns night
On halfway the visitors counter-attacked in style with Chris Harris and Sinoti combining skilfully to send in Wilson for the first try, which Clegg converted.
After 19 minutes, Gloucester were stunned as the visitors went further ahead with their second try. A neat pass from Riki Tipuna sent Hogg into space and the No 8 had no difficulty in timing his pass to provide Sinoti with an easy run-in, Clegg's conversion giving Newcastle a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The hosts struck back with a great try when they moved the ball from within their own 22. Burns saw a gap, which he raced through to charge 60 metres to send Twelvetrees over for the try for Burns to convert. He had earlier put Newcastle on the scoreboard with a penalty.
Despite having the better of the first half in terms of territory and possession, Gloucester fell further behind when Lawson finished off a line-out drive. Clegg's touchline conversion and a second penalty from him gave the Falcons a 27-13 interval lead.
Any remaining hopes for Gloucester seemed to have been extinguished when Furno crashed over for the bonus-point try, but late tries from Twelvetrees and Purdy - both converted by Burns - set up a grandstand finish.
Gloucester pummelled their opponents' line and, when the ball was moved wide, the elusive Burns evaded Clegg's tackle for the match-winner.