Aviva Premiership
Twelvetrees calls for derby reaction
ESPN Staff
April 7, 2014
Gloucester's Billy Twelvetrees is tackled by Wasps' Nathan Hughes © Getty Images
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Billy Twelvetrees has called on his Gloucester teammates to use yesterday's Amlin Challenge Cup defeat as a spark to ignite their game when they take on Westcountry rivals Bath this weekend.

Gloucester were outgunned by Wasps at Adams Park on Sunday, with the home side winning 36-24 to progress to the semi-finals. But Twelvetrees is targeting the looming Aviva Premiership derby as a chance to bounce back.

Twelvetrees told the Gloucester Citizen: "We will lick our wounds and look at the positives and negatives. We have to be honest with each other and work hard.

"There is no bigger a game than a local derby against Bath at Kingsholm, it's the one the boys really look forward to. There's a lot of frustration from the Amlin Cup and hopefully come Saturday we can come out all guns blazing."

Gloucester's preparations were disrupted at Adams Park with an injury to Mike Tindall in the warm-up forcing Twelvetrees to switch from fly-half to inside centre. Twelvetrees however, insisted Gloucester only have themselves to blame.

"As professionals you prepare to play and it makes no difference what number you have on your back, especially in the backs," he said. "We can't blame refereeing decisions; we have to think about how we got in those positions. On a wet evening we have to get out of our half and not give away silly penalties.

"That's rugby, a bounce of a ball and 50-50 decisions don't matter, it's about how you come back from them. The most disappointing thing is we didn't stay true to our word and what Gloucester Rugby stands for."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

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