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Sale defend home turf again by edging Saracens in thriller
Premiership leaders Sale showed their title credentials as they edged out fellow high-fliers Saracens 22-20 in a festive thriller.
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It is now 12 home league victories on the spin for the Sharks, who notched three tries in difficult conditions to go clear at the summit.
Ahead of a repeat of last season’s Premiership final, both teams went into this packed-out Salford Stadium clash on the back of a pair of mixed results in the Champions Cup.
There were a number of handling errors early on as both teams sought to get to grips with the swirling wind.
However, Mark McCall’s Sarries, who got the better of Connacht last time out in Europe, were first on the board as Owen Farrell kicked a routine close-range penalty after Sharks lost out at a scrum.
The hosts, beaten 37-28 by Leinster last weekend, responded with some vigour, and in the 18th minute, they bagged themselves a classic pushover try.
Argentinian Agustin Creevy barged over following a successful maul, with George Ford’s conversion making it 7-3.
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By the time the game entered its second quarter Sale were starting to hold sway, though a break from either side always looked on the cards.
Saracens withheld some big pressure from the hosts, but with the final action of the first half they were presented with a gift to send them in at the break ahead.
Ivan van Zyl easily intercepted a shocking Gus Warr pass and darted unopposed to touch down under the posts.
Farrell’s boot handed the visitors a 10-7 interval advantage.
However, Sale needed only four minutes of the second period to re-take the lead.
The backs shifted the ball wide to Tom Roebuck, and he dived over ahead of an unsuccessful, wind-affected extras attempt by Ford.
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This intriguing clash was there for either side to take, and Sale scored again before 50 minutes were up.
Replacement Luke Cowan-Dickie powered over after the hosts won a line-out, with Ford this time successful off a post as his kick stretched the lead to 19-10.
A Sale offside handed Farrell a simple kick to reduce the arrears to six points, but Alex Sanderson’s Sharks stuck at their task and soon got the three points back through Ford.
When Gareth Simpson scored and Farrell converted expertly to bring the score back to 22-20, though, tension among the home support increased again with still 10 minutes left.
Ford saw a late penalty attempt strike a post, but in the end that was inconsequential as the near 10,000-strong home crowd went on to celebrate a truly hard-earned victory.
Comments on RugbyPass
It’ll be very interesting to see how Razor’s AB’s handle the new England rush D. It’s basically the Bok recipe they copied, so if England goes well then we know most likely the Boks will go well too. If England cops a hiding then we’ll have to study and adapt.
4 Go to commentsTypical trait of an australian is to moan. Goes well with there lack of humbleness as evident by the Reds bench on the weekend.
2 Go to commentsSBW’s bro’town commentary and lazy default to hyperbole should be ignored, a technical analyst he is not. Sotutu is a good player when games get goosey loosey, high skill set that fans of Zinzan recall with starry eyes. But you need power and mongrel at no8 in the Test arena and Sotutu gets found wanting there, much like Akira Ioane. No8’s like Zinzan and Ardie have bucketloads of mongrel and power and tenacity which allow the skill sets to flourish.
11 Go to commentsAn inside pass to attacker on the angle can make a drift defence look lead footed. Relies on fleet footed forward/s to get across from the breakdown. An argument for the smaller faster 7 perhaps?
4 Go to commentsSensational tackle. The reds one was late and rightly penalised. The other two were simultaneous with the pass. If nitpicking TMOs can’t find fault there clearly isn’t any.
2 Go to commentsBrumbies fully deserved their win on the back of their physicality and desire to control the ball. Xavier Numia, Asafo Aumua and Tyrel Lomax should be the ABs starting front row when we start our test schedule. They have “come of age” and have bested all they have faced as well as been dominant with ball in hand in making the gainline. With De Groot, Tamaiti Williams and Fletcher Newell backed up by Taukei'aho and Cody Taylor there's not an international front row that can trouble us. Can't wait to face the Boks over there, won't be no one point game this time.
5 Go to commentsKinda strange that he wasn’t with a premiership team or a higher level of rugby? Start playing late or something? With that kind of size and athleticism you’d think someone would have picked him up?
2 Go to commentsShows how much attitude matters. Last week the Brumbies got done, this week they dominated the tournament leaders, who were likely thinking they could cruise to victory.
5 Go to commentsA Turtle has more pace and leg drive than Owen Franks, so it’s a good thing he only had to run 90 metres for that try.
2 Go to commentsOh Tamati Tua was in the vastly over-rated Leon MacDonalds Blues system? Well, no wonder he was wasted, much like Emoni Narawa and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens under MacDonald. now look at them. Good thing Tua isn’t eligible, the Aussies latch on to any player who isn’t tied down.
5 Go to commentsMark Telea is a lot of things, but a defensive juggernaut has never been one of them. There will be far bigger tests in that regard for the youngster.
11 Go to commentsLove and respect to Fiji but not a chance outside of 7s
4 Go to commentsGood summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
5 Go to commentsKarl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
4 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
2 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
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