Mercier adds the final indignity

Bristol 23 Gloucester 28

This War and Peace of a season ended with a less than epic play-off final, not that those wearing cherry jerseys gave a fig. Ludovic Mercier kicked 23 points to reward his ruggedly competitive pack, as Gloucester made a winning return to Twickenham after a 12-year gap.

Much as Phil Vickery's side would have loved to have stormed over the finishing line in a flurry of tries, one was enough. Jake Boer got it 37 minutes into the first half, Mercier's lethal left boot did the rest, and Gloucester were never headed by their west country rivals.

So no silver lining for Bristol's Argentinians, Felipe Contepomi and Agustin Pichot, although both did their utmost to change the result. Contepomi kicked three penalties and converted Bristol's second-half tries by Pichot and the replacement prop, Paul Johnstone. Time for some mutual consolation with Juan Sebastian Veron, whose Cheshire home Pichot and Contepomi have been known to drop in on from time to time.

Whereas the Powergen Cup final here has been watched by a near-capacity crowd for the last two years – in more traditional slots of February and April – the ill-conceived attempt to extend interest into flaming June was a flaming joke. Twickenham was less than half full, and the bad news is that this ridiculous schedule will be with us for at least another season, with the Heineken Cup final of 2003 again due to be followed by the last two rounds of these play-offs.

The Premiership's put-upon players are expected to return to HQ in a mere 11 weeks for the Middlesex Sevens, a sobering thought fit to counteract any after-effects of those cross-coders among us still celebrating Sapporo.

There was enough hoarse-throated encouragement from the 28,500 who did make it to suggest that the outcome was of importance to some, and Bristol had the added incentive of wanting to avoid an unprecedented fourth defeat to Gloucester in one season. But Mercier bounced a gargantuan penalty from behind the halfway line on to and over the bar in the second minute, and the man hailed by adoring chants of "Ludo, Ludo" continued for the most part to get his numbers just right.

Bristol's line-out had got the better of Leicester – who, you may recall, won the genuine championship some weeks ago – in two recent victories over the Tigers.

And again, Alex Brown and the longer-in-the-tooth Garath Archer got in among their opponents to good effect. Yet in the closer quarters of scrum, ruck and maul, Phil Vickery edged the battle with his rival for the England tighthead spot, Julian White, and Gloucester made more ground, more often.

Gloucester's powerful forward drives helped establish a 6-3 lead in the first quarter, before two separate stints in the sin-bin left us with 14 against 14 for a short time. First Pichot was clothes-lined by Patrice Collazo, and the resulting penalty from Contepomi tied the scores at 6-6. Five minutes later there was another flourish of yellow, when Bristol's England prospect on the wing, Phil Christophers, tackled Tom Beim without the ball as Henry Paul looked to feed an outside pass. Christopher exited stage left, but Collazo returned in time to for a starring role in the opening try.

Mercier forced play into the Bristol 22, and the ball was worked to the wide where Paul linked to Collazo. The French loose-head outfoxed a trio of Bristol defenders by slipping a lovely inside pass to Jake Boer off his left hand, and the flanker dived over. Mercier's lethal left boot added the conversion from the touchline. Mercier's third penalty put Gloucester 16-6 up at the interval.

Quick thinking by Pichot made for a rumbustuous restart. The scrum-half caught Vickery napping with a tapped penalty, awarded in the Gloucester 22 after Contepomi had been late-tackled in the act of punting downfield from his own half. Paul's attempted saving tackle was mistimed, and Pichot slid over.

There followed more alarms for Gloucester as only a couple of studs in touch prevented Jamie Williams getting away down the wing, then Junior Paramore dropped forward a clearance from Lee Best. But the team who finished third in the Premiership – to Bristol's eighth – regained the initiative when Paul forced Best to carry over his own line. Although Mercier missed with a penalty soon after, the Frenchman potted two more goals for a two-score advantage.

Johnstone improbably charged 30 metres through some truly dreadful Gloucester defence from Ross Beattie's line-out tap to keep things lively but Archer could not resist a late tackle on Paramore. Mercier made it 25-20, another penalty apiece maintained the advantage and Gloucester finished on top, in every possible sense.

Bristol 23 Gloucester 28
Tries: Pichot, Johnstone Try: Boer
Cons: Contepomi 2 Con: Mercier
Pens: Contepomi 3 Pens: Mercier 7

Half-time: 6-16 Attendance: 28,500

Bristol: L Best; P Christophers, D Rees, J Little (capt), J Williams (S Drahm, 70); F Contepomi, A Pichot; D Crompton (P Johnstone, 64), N McCarthy, J White, G Archer, A Brown, C Short (R Beattie, h-t), B Sturnham (A Sheridan, 50), M Lipman

Gloucester: H Paul; D O'Leary, T Fanolua (C Catling, 78), R Todd, T Beim; L Mercier, A Gomarsall; P Collazo (T Woodman, 60), O Azam (C Fortey, 74), P Vickery (capt), R Fidler, E Pearce (C Gillies, 64), J Forrester (T Woodman, 23-33; A Sheridan, 74), J Paramore, J Boer.

Referee: R Maybank (Kent).