Vainikolo in right mood for England

Despite returning from New Zealand barely 48 hours earlier, England's wing-in-waiting reported for business as normal yesterday and played his part in securing the Premiership leaders a potentially seismic tie in April.

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Coming through: Lesley Vainikolo forces the play for Gloucester

They face former champions Munster at Kingsholm, where no visiting team have won for more than 18 months and where the Irish province lost 22-11 when they were last there four years ago.

Job done, Vainikolo left carrying his kitbag and the red, encased Bible given to him by his mother when he left home for the Bradford Bulls seven years ago.

"God gives and God takes away," he said, clutching the Bible. "I have been through some dark times in the past month and now Gloucester are giving me the light to get through it."

The Volcano has made the equivalent of two round-the-world journeys in recent weeks, travelling a total of 48,000 miles following the sudden death of his brother, Kava, before Christmas and the New Year passing of his father, Solomone, 68, on the very day England announced the selection of his youngest son in their Six Nations squad.

"My manager rang me in Auckland to give me the news," said Vainikolo.

"I went straight to my Dad and told him. The Vainikolo family spirit lives on. It shows here is some good news, that my Dad's name is going to be up there."

With that, the friendly Tongan giant left to be introduced to his new fellow countrymen in readiness for today's first training session at Twickenham — the next step in what head coach Dean Ryan refers to as 'a huge journey'.

No amount of jet lag was going to stop Vainikolo hurling himself back into action for a fraught tie of high tension which saw Gloucester take their place as third seeds, their record eclipsed only by an English pair of first-time qualifiers — Saracens and London Irish.

Ulster's dismal record since winning the competition nine years ago suggested that the win Gloucester needed to head their pool would be a formality. It was nothing of the sort.

In stark contrast to their surrender at Ravenhill in November when Gloucester overran them with five tries in under half an hour, the Red Hand province saved their best for last.

On the run: Gloucester proved too powerful for Ulster

For an hour, Ulster matched their English opponents try for try, forcing Gloucester at times into a state of nervous tension.

It took 20 minutes for them to get into their stride, Mike Tindall pirouetting through a hole for the barnstorming Fijian flanker, Akapusi Qera, to plunge over.

But Ulster responded with a dazzling try of their own, initiated by Isaac Boss's break and Tommy Bowe's high-class finish.

Scotland flanker Alasdair Strokosch muscled over under the bar only for Bowe to fashion an exquisite reply.

Catching his own chip on the first bounce, the man from Monaghan underlined his case for a Six Nations recall by stitching together a move which sent Andrew Trimble behind the posts.

At 14-14, Vainikolo helped swing it Gloucester's way. His pick-up-and-go from a scrum pulled in enough defenders for Tindall's pass to find Qera unmarked on the left.

Vainikolo made the next try, drawing the full back in textbook style for Iain Balshaw to cruise over in the corner.

Substitute fly half Niall O'Connor raised Ulster's hopes with a crosskick for Bowe to score his second try before another substitute, Luke Narraway, clinched it for Gloucester.