Warriors plunged to a heavy defeat at Kingsholm where four tries in a devastating 14 minute period in the final quarter proved decisive.
Warriors tackled ferociously in defence but Gloucester were relentless in attack and the dam finally burst when Ryan Mills was sin-binned and Ruan Ackermann crashed over for the try that gave Gloucester the lead for the first time midway through the second half.
In truth the defeat could have been heavier as Warriors lacked possession and territory and the penalty count mounted as the match went on. Gloucester also had two tries disallowed in the first half and they also struck a post with a penalty when Warriors were 3-0 up.
Remarkably Warriors led from the eighth to the 40th minute through a penalty from Duncan Weir but spent most of the match trying to plug the dyke as Gloucester poured forward in attack.
Warriors played their best rugby early and were rewarded for their pressure with Weir’s penalty but that was as good as it got.
Warriors spent most of the rest of the first half in defence as Gloucester kicked a succession of penalties to the corner and tried to batter their way over from the lineout.
Gloucester thought they had scored when captain Willi Heinz followed up a chip ahead and dotted down but the score was chalked off for offside after referee Christophe Ridley consulted TMO Stuart Terheege.
Gloucester got over the line again midway through the first half and Danny Cipriani was lining up his conversion when the replays showed that Ben Morgan had the ball dislodged from his grasp in the process of touching down.
Once again the try was disallowed and, having lifted the siege, Warriors ventured into home territory and won a penalty which Weir was unable to land from an acute angle.
Cipriani had the chance to equalise with an easier penalty kick on the half hour but he struck the right hand post with his kick and Warriors again breathed a sigh of relief.
But the penalty count mounted against Warriors and when they went offside under the posts in first half stoppage time, Cipriani landed a simple kick to level the scores.
The second half proved to be more one-sided although it took Gloucester 20 minutes to take the lead when Ackermann crashed over after Warriors had again conceded penalties under pressure.
Centre Chris Harris crossed in the corner after good work by teenage wing Louis Rees-Zammit who scored the third himself when he outpaced the cover defence.
Morgan secured the bonus point for Gloucester seven minutes from time and Rees-Zammit secured himself the man of the match award by racing over for his second with the final play of the match.
Warriors | 15 Chris Pennell (Shillcock 69), 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Melani Nanai, 10 Duncan Weir (Lance 69), 9 Francois Hougaard (Heaney 66), 1 Callum Black (Bower 61), 2 Matt Moulds (C) (Taufete’e 61), 3 Nick Schonert (Carey 61), 4 Anton Bresler (Fatialofa 46), 5 Graham Kitchener, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Sam Lewis (van Velze 43-54), 8 Cornell du Preez (van Velze 56).
Replacements | 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Michael Fatialofa, 20 GJ van Velze, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Jamie Shillcock.
Timeline
8m | Weir pen 0-3
40m | Cipriani pen 3-3
60m | Ackermann try 8-3
61m | Cipriani con 10-3
64m | Harris try 15-3
68m | Rees-Zammit try 20-3
69m | Cipriani con 22-3
73m | Morgan try 27-3
74m | Cipriani con 29-3
79m | Louis Rees-Zammit try 34-3
80m | Cipriani con 36-3