Sinbad the hero for Gloucester but tour place looks sunk

After scoring the try that secured Gloucester's status as the No 1 team in the play-offs, Simpson- Daniel then revealed that he requires an operation.

Keeping a grip: James Simpson-Daniel beats Ollie Barkley to the line

"Sinbad's' left shoulder will not prevent him seeing out the domestic season, starting with Sunday's semi-final against Leicester at Kingsholm, but its deteriorating state means one of the country's unluckiest players will be recovering from surgery instead of preparing to face New Zealand. Martin Johnson, squeezing into Kingsholm for a final check on a raft of contenders, would appear to have little option other than to omit Simpson-Daniel when he names his first squad as England manager tomorrow.

Gloucester's wing-cum-centre has been plagued by illness and freak accidents, most disturbingly an apparently innocuous knee in the thigh during training with England in Australia two years ago which put him in hospital on morphine for several days. That he has managed six Test starts in six years says everything about his misfortune.

"I'm desperate to get more caps and contribute if possible but I'm not sure about that at the moment," he said. "I'm seeing a surgeon about my shoulder. It's something I did a while ago, but it wasn't fixed then and it's been getting worse."

Simpson-Daniel's try, his 14th of the season, came after he sliced through three opponents. It was the only try of a match which still touched the heights for the sheer unrelenting nature of its physical intensity.

The fact that Gloucester edged it, thanks in no small part to their Fijian flanker Akapusi Qera, shows how far they have come since being outmuscled by Leicester in last year's Grand Final.

A pointless second half testified to Gloucester's discipline. They conceded only two penalties, deep in Bath territory, and prevented their opponents building a platform for a drop goal so effectively that Butch James' one attempt, from fully 50 yards, hardly got airborne.

There was no question that Gloucester deserved to finish top of the pile, where they had been all season bar one week, but they had an indisputably lucky break after half-an-hour.

Had they not seen the back of Matt Stevens, Bath might have been looking forward to Wasps at The Rec this weekend rather than at Adams Park where they came unstuck 25-10 over Christmas.

England's turbo-charged tighthead damaged a knee after breaking the Gloucester line only to be caught from behind by Simpson- Daniel's scything tackle. While a seven-pointer between the posts would have been no more than Bath's early superiority warranted, they were never allowed to get that close again.

The earlier exit of a hobbling Mike Tindall did not have anywhere near the same impact on Gloucester despite consequent reorganisation. Winning the regular Premiership season is old hat for Gloucester.

They did it by 15 points from Wasps five years ago only to be roasted 39-3 by the runners-up when it mattered, in the Grand Final.

The painful memory of Leicester thumping them 44-15 in last year's final means that head coach Dean Ryan will not be short of motivational material before Kingsholm is packed to the rafters once again next Sunday afternoon.

It leaves no excuse for not making it all the way to Twickenham and giving the most fanatical of English rugby cities the title it has craved since the creation of the League system 20 years ago. Finishing first at the end of the regular season means nothing, as Gloucester know only too well.

"You get nothing for it," said Simpson- Daniel. "Proving you are the best side means you have to win the play-offs. We have a great opportunity to be able to prove we can do it now rather than putting it off year after year."

Once their pack had expertly run down the last moments on the clock to thunderous applause with the ball virtually invisible, the club's public adress announcer belted the message out — "Regular season Guinness Premiership champions — Gloucester."

All they have to do now is prove that champions win when it matters and avoid leaving HQ at the end of the month with a cruel jibe ringing in their ears: "Regular Grand Final runners-up — Gloucester."

GLOUCESTER: Balshaw; Simpson-Daniel, Tindall (Walker 14min), Allen, Vainikolo; Lamb, Lawson (Cooper 69), Wood (Dickinson 46); Titterrell (Azam 46), Nieto, Bortolami, Brown, Strokosch, Qera, Delve (Narraway 55).

BATH: Maddock; Higgins, Cheeseman (Crockett 64), Barkley, Banahan; James, Claassens; Flatman, Mears (Dixon 57), Stevens (Bell 27), Borthwick, Grewcock (Short 69), Faamatuainu, Lipman, Browne (Goodman 74).

Referee: D Pearson (Newcastle).