GLOUCESTER director of rugby David Humphreys admitted it was tough to watch Harlequins leave with their first league victory at Kingsholm in 15 years on Friday, writes Sam Warley.

Not since the days of Jason Leonard and Keith Wood have Quins stunned the Cherry & Whites on their own turf in Aviva Premiership Rugby.

However, tries from Nick Easter, Luke Wallace and Charlie Walker ensured Conor O'Shea's men left the West Country with an impressive 22-15 win.

It could have been so different for Gloucester had returning England international Billy Twelvetrees added to his four first-half penalties, but three points from Aled Thomas was all the hosts could muster after the break.

“Nobody likes to stand here and talk about what went wrong after losing a game like that,” said Humphreys.

“We spoke at the beginning of the season about making Kingsholm a difficult place to come and to a certain extent we did that.

“It's very disappointing to have lost the game after the first 30 minutes or so we put in but you also have to give Harlequins credit as well. They put us under pressure and didn't let us get away.

“There's certainly disappointment from us that we didn't bring any urgency after half-time, we talked about coming out and keeping the momentum but we weren't able to keep the ball or enjoy any territory.

“And because of that we couldn't keep the scoreboard moving and that's very frustrating but again credit to Harlequins for that.”

The defeat leaves Gloucester eighth in the Aviva Premiership Rugby table, with Quins leapfrogging them into sixth after the opening seven rounds.

O'Shea said: “The pitch was amazing considering the weather we have had and because of that the game was excellent.

“This is an amazing place to come, it's a very hard place to win and for some of those younger guys it's a massive thing for them because you need them to have experience.

“It's not just about the older players having experience, wins like this give the younger guys belief.”

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