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Gloucester Under-18s have still had a great season, says Reece Dunn

Author: Contributed, Posted: Tuesday, 13th March 2018, 14:10

Gloucester’s youngsters have had a fine season

Reece Dunn insists that defeat at the Premiership Rugby Under-18s Finals Day doesn’t take the gloss off a fantastic season for his Gloucester team-mates.

The Cherry and Whites were unbeaten after their six conference games to earn them a shot at the title against Leicester Tigers on Sunday at Allianz Park.

And though Gloucester had to settle for second place after a 43-21 defeat, full-back Dunn reflected on a hugely positive season overall.

“It’s outstanding from the boys,” he said.

“We beat some good teams along the way – Harlequins away and finishing against Bristol – it was a fantastic achievement in itself.

“It was absolutely incredible (to be unbeaten). To get 29 out of 30 points on the way is pretty good going from the boys. It was just amazing.

“It was a tough game. We always knew what Leicester were going to bring to us. It was going to be physical with the boys up front.

“We just didn’t adapt to it early enough. We got a foothold in the game in the last few minutes but it wasn’t enough by then.”

Gloucester’s performances in the Premiership Rugby Under-18s competition have not gone unnoticed, with a number of players earning international age-group honours.

And Dunn says it was a source of great pride for him to see his team-mates flourish throughout the season.

He added: “It’s been unreal, especially for a lot of the young boys. We’ve gone from having a few in the England set-up to 12 – seven in the Under-18s and five in the Under-17s.

“The boys are learning very quickly. I’m very proud of the boys and hopefully they can represent us well in the coming weeks and fill the jerseys with pride.

“We’ve got a few boys going into the senior academy next year and we’ll use this as a springboard to learn from it, put it behind us, and go again in pre-season with the seniors.”

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Gloucester Under-18s have still had a great season, says Reece Dunn

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