In a game which entertained from first minute to last, the Cherry and Whites scored six tries with full-back Tom Marshall crossing twice. Ross Moriarty, Jonny May, Mark Atkinson and Henry Purdy also got in on the act, with the impressive Twelvetrees kicking four conversions and a penalty.

The Blues had played some sublime rugby of their own in the first half, Alex Cuthbert’s brace putting them into a narrow three-point interval lead. It was one they couldn’t hang on to though as the Welsh region were left ruing what might have been.

An all-action start at Kingsholm saw two early tries from two Welsh internationals.

The Blues were playing some enterprising rugby, Cuthbert opening the scoring with a superb finish following a series of impressive carries by the forwards.

The wing smashed through two tackles to make his way to the line, Steven Shingler converting to make it 7-0.

Gloucester then hit back, Moriarty picking up a loose ball after Richard Hibbard carried into contact and brushing aside Matthew Morgan on his way to the line. Billy Burns’ kick levelled the scores, but there was no let-up in the intensity of the encounter.

Moriarty had put in one brutal hit on Gareth Anscombe, while a sublime break from full-back Morgan nearly created a try for visiting scrum-half Lloyd Williams.

Shingler then kicked two penalties, either side of one from Burns, before the Gloucester fly-half went off for a head injury assessment after a worrying blow to the head.

In his absence, man of the match Twelvetrees took over kicking duties to make it 13-13, the centre then producing a moment of magic to break clear between Shingler and Rey Lee-Lo and put Marshall away to score.

Twelvetrees converted for a seven-point lead, but the see-saw nature of the game continued as the Blues finished the half the stronger. Danny Wilson’s men repeatedly opted for driving line-outs close to the Gloucester line, home prop Josh Hohneck eventually sin binned as the Cherry and Whites continued to infringe.

It allowed the Blues to make the most of their man advantage, Anscombe’s short ball finding Cuthbert to dot down. Shingler converted and the half ended with Ascombe slotting a nerveless 40-metre drop goal.

The first period had been breathless and while there was less scoring in the second, it was similarly fast-paced. Shingler extended the Blues’ lead with a 50^th minute penalty, but from then on it began to unravel for the visitors.

Twelvetrees, who had stepped inside to fly-half when Burns went off injured, controlled the game magnifecently and his cross-kick found England wing May who dived over.

Just four minutes later, Marshall added his second and with Twelvetrees booting both sets of extras, Gloucester were suddenly in control.

The Blues' control, which had been so impressive in the opening 40, had now disappeared and the third quarter saw them lose the game.

When Atkinson added Gloucester’s fifth try, benefiting from a poor defensive read by Lee-Lo, the Blues were now three scores behind.

Twelvetrees once again converted to make it 41-26 and although the Blues pushed hard to get back into it, Gloucester reached the last four as Purdy put the gloss on the victory.

David Humphrey's men coming out on top means they set up a semi-final tie with France’s surprise package La Rochelle who they met in the pool stages.