SALE SHARKS 20
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 7
Sale snapped a 2 game losing
streak on Saturday afternoon as the Sharks dismantled the league leaders and
reigning Aviva Premiership champions the Northampton Saints 20-7 in what was a
game that saw the home side bully their opponents throughout at the AJ Bell Stadium
and earn a famous win. It saw also a battle
of the England fly-half on offer to in the match up, with Saints Stephen Myler
up against the Sharks Danny Cipriani with England head coach Stuart Lancaster
sitting in the stands, as he cast an eye over the two men ahead of his
selection for the England squad in the 6 Nations next month.
The start of the match saw the
Saints putting the home side under some early pressure and needed Sale to be on
their metal to hold firm in defence, with attacks by the champions coming early
on. Sale who in their last home game was edged out
in a heartbreaking loss to fellow playoff chasers the Leicester Tigers saw this
game as another way to test themselves against the best in the league.
Cipriani was running the game
for the home side, to which saw the fly half producing some good kicks into
dangerous areas, including one which saw him gain at least 40 metres with a free
kick that just managed to go over the Northampton player head and bounce 5
metres away from the Saints try line.
Play then saw the hosts going
to close to the line with Mike Haley going close to give them the lead and then
Magnus Lund looked like he was going to go over for the Sharks but he was
hauled down agonisingly close and saw referee Matthew Carley, bring play back
for a penalty to which Danny Cipriani despatched of between the uprights for a
3-0 lead after 9 minutes of play.
Another piece of
ill-discipline by the Saints saw Cipriani convert on another penalty for the
hosts and he doubled the lead for the Sharks at 6-0 and had the visitors still
trying to find some way back into this contest, as the Champions were looking
more like chumps in the game. From the
restart both sides traded kicks and led to a ball being held up due to the
gusty conditions in Salford and the Northampton backs misjudged the ball and
knocked on when coming under pressure from a stern Shark defence.
Will Addison nearly scored a
lovely inventive try for the Sharks, when a dabbed kick in behind the Saints
back line led to Addison chasing the tantalising ball heading for the corner
but saw it just bounce off the corner padding and out of play. The visitors were lacking anything in the way
of creativity and they found the Sharks defence extremely difficult to break
down and were seemingly low on ideas too.
Danny Cipriani on the other
hand was creating all sorts of things for his side, whether it was little
blindside passes that found gaps in the Northampton defence or it was kicks in
behind the back line it must have given England coach Stuart Lancaster some
food for thought in his decision making to possibly include the maverick fly
half in his squad at the very least.
This season the Sale Sharks
driving maul at set pieces has been their biggest weapon in their arsenal and
that was used to effect once again in this contest, with the forwards causing
many problems for their opposite numbers and drove them back to the point of
coming close to almost scoring a try as the Saints pack was unable to deal with
the power the Sale side had and when Josh Beaumont went over the referee adjudge
it to be held up, much to Beaumont`s frustration.
Sam Dickinson then got shown
the yellow card for an illegal charge on Magnus Lund which saw the Sharks player
receiving treatment from it and had the Saints down to 14 men for the duration
of the first half. Sale forced a penalty
against the Saints pack and from their lineout which was perfection throughout the
match and saw them record a perfect 24 lineout wins out of 24 and from one of
those lineout wins it produced a driving maul by Sale, which ended with Eifion Lewis-Roberts
going over for a try in the 29th minute to see the home side lead with
Danny Cipriani adding the two extras for a 13-0 score line.
Cipriani once again was
pulling the strings for the hosts and saw him play a lovely delayed pass to
Sami Leota and the Samoan International dashed into the gap and needed a well
timed tackle by the Saints to stop him galloping forwards and saw Stephen Myler
clear away the danger. Northampton had
the final chance of the half as they looked to try grab a score before the
break, but they couldn`t get anything going in the contest and a knock on while
in a good position summed up their match.
In the second half it saw
Northampton trying to launch an early fightback to get back in the game, but
just like the first forty the Sharks defence repelled all advances by the
Saints and solid work by the home side kept them out. Their tough back line was
evident and included a crunching tackle by Will Addison on George Pisi which sent
the Saints man flying and drew a penalty from the play for not releasing the
ball.
Calum Clark then got shown the 2nd Yellow
card for the visitors in the game in the 57th minute, to which the Sharks
forwards now sensed blood at the lineout and drove onwards in their devastating
driving maul and had Sale Captain Dan Braid put the ball down to extend the
lead to 18-0 for the home team with Cipriani adding the extras.
Former Shark Luther Burrell
tried to get his side going with a run, but unluckily for him he knocked on and
saw another disappointing Northampton attack come to nothing. In the 65th minute the Saints did eventually
get some points on the board, as Teimana Harrison wriggled his way over the try
line to score and give the travelling East Midlands fans something to cheer.
Northampton then had a mini purple patch in the game, as they created a couple
of chances and were clearly buoyed by that try.
Sale managed to grab control right back and saw them just
take full advantage of a poor Northampton side and saw Danny Cipriani do his
cause to be selected for England no harm as the England coach must have been
impressed with his performance, as he was replaced with just over 10 minute left to play and got a
standing ovation by the Sharks faithful. It also saw the introduction of new signing TJ Ioane come on for the final 11 minutes and he put himself around a bit on debut and looks a good signing for the Sharks too.
Sale did come under some late
pressure at the back end of the game and needed their defence to hold out, with
a late Saints rally and included a phrases in double digits after the 80
minutes were up to where the home side quelled their last attacks before a
knock on brought the game to a close and the Sharks recorded a famous win over
their former coach Jim Mallinder and his league champions.
Northampton it was a case of a bad day at the office and one to quickly draw a line under and forget about as their lineouts were abysmal, their attacks looked toothless and lacked any purpose and they will be glad they still hold top place after the is defeat.
Sale despite the win dropped a place in the table to 8th position and will look to use their new found confidence in their final European Cup group match at home next weekend against Clermont, as the Sharks can still have a say as to who qualifys in the group despite being out of the tournament.
Sale despite the win dropped a place in the table to 8th position and will look to use their new found confidence in their final European Cup group match at home next weekend against Clermont, as the Sharks can still have a say as to who qualifys in the group despite being out of the tournament.
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