Away from the Sale shenanigans, Gloucester know they must get back on track in their top-four pursuit

Hidden behind last week’s hullabaloo at Kingsholm was Gloucester’s worst performance of the season, but against Leicester Tigers they can prove they are anything but a one-man team

Johan Ackermann apologised for Gloucester's defeat against Sale and hopes to make up for it by beating Leicester (Getty)

Two key points were overlooked amid all the hullabaloo created by Steve Diamond’s extraordinary post-match behaviour at Kingsholm last Saturday.

Firstly, Diamond’s charges Sale Sharks produced easily their best display of the season while Johan Ackermann’s Gloucester produced by far and away their worst.

There have been more than enough column inches devoted to Sale and their hot-headed director of rugby over the past week - not least by this writer who suffered the brunt of his posturing – while overdue recognition has rightly been given to the excellence of the Sharks performance at Kingsholm.

But for every yin, there is a yang, and for all Sale’s cohesion, pace and intelligence, Gloucester could not have been more leaden footed and disappointing in slipping to a bonus-point defeat at home, just when it felt as if they were ready to be taken seriously at the business end of the Gallagher Premiership table.

Missing pivotal injured playmaker Danny Cipriani at fly-half, as he continues to nurse the pectoral injury which will keep him sidelined for some weeks to come, the Cherry and Whites were a pale imitation of the side which has put so many others to the sword.

With Wales’s forgotten man Owen Williams struggling to get his side going forward at No 10 and Gloucester forwards bossed in manner rarely seen at Kingsholm in recent times, it was Sale who looked like they were chasing a play-off spot, not Ackermann’s team.

By the end of the game, Gloucester were not far off a rabble.

It would be completely wrong to pin the blame on Williams. No-one in Gloucester’s backline covered themselves in glory while the less said about their forward effort the better.

“This has to go down as the worst performance and result of the season,” wrote former Gloucester full-back Peter Butler in his column for gloucesterlive.co.uk.

“Call it complacency or call it an off day, but both are not meant to exist at the top clubs.”

Lost amongst the Diamond encrusted post-match furore was Gloucester director of rugby Ackermann apologising to his club’s fans for the ineptitude of his team’s display.

But despite the understandably bitter frustration amongst Gloucester’s fans, Saturday’s heavy home defeat could yet serve to refocus Ackermann’s team to push on in the second half of the season.

Owen Williams will hope to make up for last weekend's defeat (Getty)

Until the defeat to Sale this has, after all, been an overwhelmingly positive season for Ackermann’s Cherry and Whites.

Gloucester, who remain third in the Premiership table with six wins from 11 matches, have a chance to gain redemption and get their top-four chase back on track on Saturday when they visit another former giant with a cloud looming overhead, Leicester Tigers.

Geordan Murphy’s team were much improved in putting Harlequins away at Welford Road before Christmas following back-to-back defeats against Racing Metro in Europe. But they lost further ground last weekend in going down 23-16 away at fellow strugglers, Bath.

Gloucester slipped up against Sale in their attempt to chase down the top two in the Premiership (Getty)

With just four wins from 11 games this season, English rugby’s former powerhouse club remains in clear and present danger of relegation.

These are difficult times indeed for Leicester’s faithful, as they struggle to come to terms with the glaring reality their club is no longer the force it once was domestically or in Europe. Ninth place in the league is a scary place to be for a club whose entire business model relies on Champions Cup revenue and a top-four Premiership finish.

The handling of former coach Matt O’Connor’s hiring and rapid firing has left huge question marks over the judgement of the club’s board.

For now, Leicester simply must get back to winning ways.

Murphy has recalled Jordan Olowofela on the wing to form part of a backline which still oozes quality with Matt Toomua, Jonny May, George Ford, Manu Tuilagi, Jonah Holmes and Ben Youngs all potential matchwinners in their own right.

The challenge for Tigers, like Gloucester, is for their pack to find their collective bite.

Leicester's resurgence against Harlequins was undone in defeat against Bath last week (Getty)

Ackermann has made six changes to the team which lost to Sale, with Williams retaining his place at fly-half against his former club.

Ben Morgan captains the side at No 8 with Callum Braley replacing Willie Heinz at scrum half as Gloucester also look to rediscover their winning formula.

A visit to Welford Road may no longer hold the fear factor it once did but Leicester remain a team with enough international talent to threaten and proud heritage to defend.

It promises to be a fascinating encounter.