Gloucestershire have been deducted two points for fielding an ineligible player.

But while that has certainly not improved their chances of reaching this season’s county championship final at Twickenham on Sunday 27th May, it has by no means done irreparable damage to their hopes either.

Gloucestershire go into their final Division One South game against Surrey at Esher on Saturday knowing that a win will still see them book their place in the showpiece occasion at the home of English rugby at the end of the month.

Gloucestershire have already notched up two bonus point wins out of two and with every other team in the six-strong division having lost at least one of their opening two games, the county still top the table even with the two-point deduction.

Hertfordshire, who Gloucestershire beat last week, are one point behind them and their final game is at home to Cornwall.

Surrey, meanwhile, are bottom of the table and are the only team yet to win in the division although they did claim a creditable draw in Cornwall a couple of weeks ago before losing in Kent five days ago.

Shane Aldridge, Gloucestershire’s head of representative rugby, told The Local Answer today: “It’s definitely not the end of the Twickenham dream. We are where we are but we’ve just got to make sure we win.

“Our destiny is in our hands. We’ve told the players about the points deduction and they reacted very well. It’s all about doing the business on Saturday and getting a W.”

Without the two-point deduction, Gloucestershire would have a three-point lead over their closest rivals and Aldridge added: “The problem was that we didn’t know the player concerned was ineligible.

“He hasn’t played for the first team of the club he is registered with since 2015/16 but he was never de-registered.

“It’s a bit of a nonsense but we have to be honest, we’ve broken the regulations.”

But as Aldridge says, everything is still very much in Gloucestershire’s hands and he has been delighted with the team’s performances and the spirit shown this season under skipper Joe Smart.

“We only play players who turn up for training,” said Aldridge. “It’s the end of a long, hard season but if players train they have the opportunity to play. If they don’t train, they don’t have that opportunity.”