Faf shines as Sale Sharks hold off Gloucester fightback
Sale Sharks remain in the hunt for a top-four place after they overcame fellow play-off hopefuls Gloucester 26-24 at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday.
In an entertaining encounter, the Sharks went into the break 19-12 ahead thanks to tries from Faf De Klerk, AJ MacGinty and JP Du Preez.
The Cherry and Whites remained in contention, however, as Santiago Socino touched down twice, but the game appeared to be slipping away when Jean-Luc Du Preez crossed the whitewash for the hosts.
Sale were in complete control but a Charlie Chapman intercept got the visitors back into the game before Louis Hillman-Cooper set up an exciting finale. However, the home side held on for the win.
Having endured a nightmare first half in last week’s clash against Exeter Chiefs, the Sharks were determined to put that right.
In windy conditions, they controlled the aerial battle early on, with Arron Reed always a threat running on to De Klerk’s box-kicks, and they deservedly took the lead.
It was the scrum-half who went over but most of the good work was done by Dan Du Preez after the number eight charged through the middle and sent his fellow Springbok across the whitewash.
Unperturbed by that setback, the Cherry and Whites hit back with their first real foray into opposition territory. The hosts conceded a string of penalties and that allowed the visitors to build using their trusty maul.
Their lineout drive has been a potent weapon all season and the Sharks were powerless to stop it as Socino crossed the whitewash.
George Barton’s conversion gave George Skivington’s men the lead but they did not hold onto it for long as the home side regained their five-point buffer.
Sale got quick ball close to the Gloucester line and eventually MacGinty went over to provide his side with a 10-7 advantage.
The fly-half was injured in the process of scoring, however, meaning that De Klerk took on kicking duties, but the South African made no mistake from the tee.
Gloucester had struggled for territory and possession but they are a resilient and clinical outfit and once more they responded when an opportunity presented itself.
Again it was the maul that did the damage as Socino completed his brace to level matters after half-an-hour.
It was proving to be a see-saw first half and just shy of the interval the Sharks had the lead for the third time when JP Du Preez touched down to move them 19-12 ahead at the break.
The Sharks took that momentum into the second period when they secured the bonus point. Luke James made the initial incursion before replacement Sam Hill took it on further and Jean-Luc Du Preez eventually finished off a fine attack.
Alex Sanderson’s men were the dominant outfit and were pressing for the try that would surely end the game as a contest, but an utterly brainless De Klerk pass – and a brilliant read from Chapman – saw the Gloucester man intercept and run the distance to get his team back into the contest.
It almost changed the course of the match as a few minutes later the Cherry and Whites were just two points in arrears when Hillman-Cooper crossed the whitewash and Barton converted.
But to Sale’s credit, they managed the latter stages well and duly claimed a priceless victory in the hunt for the play-offs.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments