Gloucester fought back from 21-0 down at half-time to beat Wasps 27-21 in a thrilling Premiership clash at Kingsholm on Sunday.
In a staggering come-from-behind triumph, the Cherry and Whites scored 27 unanswered points after the break to seal a memorable success on home soil.
Scores came from Louis Rees-Zammit, Charlie Chapman, Freddie Clarke and a penalty try, with Adam Hastings adding one conversion and a penalty goal.
Wasps’ points came via Charlie Atkinson, Brad Shields and Burger Odendaal’s first-half tries, with Atkinson converting all three scores in the first period.
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A moving minute’s silence was held in memory of the Queen, who died on Thursday, being immediately followed by the national anthem as rugby continued to pay tribute.
Wasps suffered a blow just seven minutes into the game when Italy international full-back Matteo Minozzi limped off and was replaced by Ali Crossdale.
Despite such an early setback, Wasps dominated territory and possession, with scrum-half Dan Robson looking to exploit space around the fringes.
And they should have taken a 15th-minute lead following sustained pressure near Gloucester‘s line, but Alfie Barbeary spilled Robson’s pass as Gloucester ran out of defensive numbers.
Barbeary then looked to have put Wasps ahead, yet his try was disallowed for obstruction by lock Kiran McDonald before his team-mate touched down.
Wasps, though, scored from their next attack as Atkinson weaved his way over from close range and converted to open up a 7-0 lead.
Atkinson missed a 25-metre penalty chance, and Gloucester could barely get out of their own half before Wasps stung them with a high-class try early in the second quarter.
Prop John Ryan surged through a midfield to set up the opportunity before Atkinson’s exquisite pass sent Shields over for a try that the fly-half converted.
It was all too easy for Wasps, and Gloucester conceded a third try during 10 damaging minutes when Odendaal smashed through a wafer-thin defence to score, and Atkinson’s conversion took the visitors past 20 points.
Shields departed the action just before half-time after suffering an injury – he was replaced by his fellow England international Jack Willis – and Gloucester had a mountain to climb, trailing 21-0.
Gloucester needed something to spark them, and Rees-Zammit obliged just three minutes into the second period, sprinting 90 metres for a spectacular score that saw him evade the clutches of Crossdale and Josh Bassett.
The Wasps defence was breached again just two minutes later, with new signing Albert Tuisue involved in a flowing move that ended in Chapman touching down and Hastings converting.
A Hastings penalty cut the gap to six points, setting up an intriguing final quarter as Wasps desperately tried to rediscover their first-half authority.
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But their cause was not helped by flanker Tom Willis being yellow-carded, and when Gloucester were awarded a penalty try, replacement Biyi Alo was sin-binned for pulling down a maul, leaving Wasps two players down.
Gloucester predictably turned the screw, given their numerical advantage, and Clarke’s 74th-minute try rounded things off as the home side prevailed despite Wasps exerting pressure in the closing seconds, but the visitors had to be content with a losing bonus point.
Sale kick off with win over Northampton
Sale Sharks began the season with a 29-22 win over Northampton Saints at the AJ Bell Stadium, picking up a try bonus-point to boot in the other game.
Scores from Daniel du Preez, Luke James, Sam James and new signing Tom O’Flaherty saw them to the victory, with Rob due Preez kicking nine points.
Late tries from Tom Collins (2) and Ollie Sleightholme in the final 14 minutes secured the Saints a losing bonus-point as their slow start cost them dear.
There was a rather subdued atmosphere inside and outside the AJ Bell Stadium ahead of kick-off before the players lined up for an impeccably-observed minute’s silence in memory of the Queen, followed by an emotional rendition of the new national anthem.
Once the action started, a tackle off the ball handed Saints’ James Grayson an early chance to kick a routine penalty.
Just as the game was threatening to match the mood, Sale scored a cracking opening try to get the home supporters off their seats.
The dynamic Gus Warr dived over following a smart burst after he had played a neat one-two with Springbok Dan du Preez, and Rob du Preez added the extras to make it 7-3 to the hosts.
Alex Sanderson’s men were beginning to stamp their authority on proceedings and Manu Tuilagi was becoming more and more influential in the middle after 16 weeks out of action.
But some gutsy Sale defending was also keeping Northampton at bay, despite the efforts of lively scrum-half Alex Mitchell.
Both sides sought to boss possession and it remained that way until three minutes before the break.
At that point Rob du Preez kicked another three-pointer after the hosts dominated another scrum to leave Sale with a 10-3 interval lead.
The closely-contested theme continued in the early stages of the second period, although Sale were pressing hard on the Saints’ 22.
The visitors were under mounting pressure just in front of their own line and they finally succumbed in the 54th minute.
𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟-𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 | 🦈 29-22 😇
A #GallagherPrem classic to start the season in style.
Fair play to @SaintsRugby, what a battle, that one had a bit of everything! 🤯#SALvNOR | @AO pic.twitter.com/Jjpe5gyYWQ
— Sale Sharks 🦈 (@SaleSharksRugby) September 11, 2022
Luke James eventually cruised over the line on the right after a hard-fought scrum win on the opposite side of the pitch, with Rob du Preez again converting to stretch Sale’s lead to 17-3.
Within minutes Sam James was perfectly teed up by Tom Roebuck to go over and all of a sudden another precise Rob du Preez conversion had Sale 24-3 to the good.
When O’Flaherty dived over for a debut try after Sam James’ precise kick through Sale were 29-3 ahead and on the road to a big victory.
The Saints came roaring back, though, and two tries from Collins and an Sleightholme score, two converted superbly by Grayson, brought the score back to 29-22 and earned a losing bonus-point.
But the damage had already been done and Sale managed to cling on for the opening-round win.