In this part of the globe, the phrase “Northern Rugby Matters” is frequently used, and Alex Sanderson and his Sale Sharks teammates made a compelling case for this slogan here. After thirty minutes, the home audience at Salford City Stadium had been silenced by the league leaders’ masterful performance.
However, what appeared to be a walk in the park for Saracens and a guaranteed home semi-final proved to be anything but. For all of Sale’s recent disciplinary issues, including being limited to 13 men in each of their last two losses. It was only fitting that a yellow card for the opposition here swayed this highly entertaining match in their favor.
Before Alex Goode received a yellow card for impeding a Tom O’Flaherty kick, Saracens were in command and the scoreboard reflected this, with the visitors establishing a deserved 16-0 lead. By the time Goode returned, Sale had closed the gap to 19-14, and the hosts never relinquished the momentum that Goode’s sin-binning had given them.
They were by far the superior side in the second half and were deserving winners, handing Sarries only their third loss of the season and denying the leaders the chance to secure a home semi-final here.
They will do so in the coming weeks, but so will Sale, who are now only six points behind them in the first place and, more significantly, 13 points ahead of third-place Leicester.
After seeing his team defeat his former employer, Sanderson said with a smile. “I’m a pleased man; I’ll have a bottle of Malbec responsibly tonight.” “We required that, we required that faith.” Saracens were nearly flawless for thirty minutes. Two penalties from Goode showed their early dominance before Goode and Alex Lozowski freed Alex Lewington in the area.
Seven minutes later, hooker Theo Dan completed a rolling maul, and at that point, Saracens’ 16-0 edge was insurmountable. Sale, and the big audience in attendance, had been silenced: but they collectively came alive as half-time approached. “We were saying from the sidelines that we hadn’t fired a shot but from that moment. We began firing,” Sanderson said.
Goode was found to have obstructed O’Flaherty, and within seconds of receiving a yellow card, Sale moved the ball wide, created an opening, and Joe Carpenter scored.
Mark McCall acknowledged after the game that it was a momentum-changing moment. Sam James finished off O’Flaherty’s run from deep after Manu Vunipola’s penalty. There was a suspicion the final ball was forward. But it was not ruled out and abruptly the Sharks trailed by only five points.
Goode returned shortly after the resumption of play, but Sale now had the upper hand. Only a stunning tackle from Lozowski prevented O’Flaherty from scoring a magnificent solo try. However, Rob du Preez set up Carpenter for his second try, which gave the hosts the lead for the first time. Then, Jono Ross scored their fourth goal, securing not only a bonus point but also a monumental step towards a priceless victory.
Saracens responded with brief moments, highlighted by Kapeli Pifeleti’s try as the contest entered its final 15 minutes. However, three minutes later, Robin Hislop made contact with Carpenter’s cranium and was dismissed.
The sale was then able to close out the game with a man advantage. Even stealing the losing bonus point from Sarries in the final seconds when Jean-Luc du Preez went down.
McCall lamented, “Those 10 minutes after Goode’s yellow. They increased the tempo during that period, and nothing went right for us after that.” We fought hard and showed a lot of determination, but they are a very strong team, especially at home.
The odds of these two meetings when it matters most in May appear to be diminishing by the week. And this result could heighten that outcome further once again.
