Vainikolo double downs Dragons for Gloucester

Gloucester took an early 7-0 lead, thanks to a try from Vainikolo – that was converted by Olly Barkley after 17 minutes.

But the Dragons hit back with two five pointers of their own from left wing Richard Fussell and No.8 Grant Webb.

Home hooker Scott Lawson crossed the whitewash six minutes later to bring the scores level at 12-12.

Vainikolo crashed over for his second try along with England fullback Iain Balshaw to all but secure the win after 68 minutes.

Final Score Gloucester (7) 25 Newport-Gwent Dragons (5) 20

Scorers

Gloucester
Tries: Vainikolo 2, Lawson, Balshaw
Con: Barkley
Pen: Barkley

Newport-Gwent Dragons
Tries: Fussell, Webb, Tovey
Con: Connor
Pen: Connor

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)

Teams

Gloucester: Iain Balshaw; Mark Foster, Mike Tindall (capt), Olly Barkley, Lesley Vainikolo; Willie Walker, Rory Lawson; Alasdair Dickinson, Scott Lawson, Carlos Nieto, Adam Eustace, Marco Bortolami, Peter Buxton, Andy Hazell, Alasdair Strokosch.

Reps: Andy Titterrell, Jack Forster, Dan Williams, Apo Satala, Dave Lewis, Tristan Roberts, Jack Adams.

Dragons: Phil Dollman; Tal Selley, Rhodri Gomer Davies, Ashley Smith (capt), Richard Fussell; Shaun Connor, Wayne Evans; Adam Black, Steve Jones, Rhys Thomas, Adam Jones, Andy Hall, Danny Lydiate, Richard Parks, Grant Webb.