Manu Tuilagi's Sale debut ends in defeat at Harlequins
Harlequins celebrated the return of the Gallagher Premiership by stunning title-chasing Sale in a penalty-strewn 16-10 victory behind closed doors at The Stoop.
After five months of inactivity caused by Covid-19, English rugby’s top-flight came out of hibernation with an upset inflicted in defiance of the expectation that the Sharks were ready to ignite their pursuit of league leaders Exeter.
Debutant Manu Tuilagi was paraded as part of a powerful starting XV populated with high-quality South Africans, but they rarely got out of first gear as the Premiership resumed in predictably rusty fashion.
Harlequins, who gave ex-Sale winger Chris Ashton his first start, were sharper and smarter throughout and piled over for the decisive try through hooker Scott Baldwin in the third quarter.
Fly-half Marcus Smith kicked three penalties and a conversion and Quins were rarely out of control, pierced only by Byron McGuigan’s try as Sale exited half-time with a purpose that then deserted them. It was a low-quality return to action for the competition, marred by 29 penalties and resembling a pre-season game.
After five months out…@Harlequins have returned as a football team!
Almost a perfectly-concocted beauty of a try to celebrate rugby's return ?#RugbyRestart pic.twitter.com/NTq3dL0cTH
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) August 14, 2020
The rivals showed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement in different ways, Sale’s players wearing white t-shirts emblazoned with ‘Rugby against racism’ while Quins took a knee as part of a circle. Four of the Sharks also took a knee after the clubs were given free rein to mark the fight against racism in the way they saw fit.
For all the expectations of Sale’s renewed challenge for the Premiership title, it was Quins who made the brighter start and within 20 minutes they had built a lead through two Smith penalties.
They were sharper in all respects, profiting from time on the ball and falling on the right side of referee Luke Pearce’s whistle on a warm night in south-west London. Time and again Sale’s shoots of recovery came to an abrupt halt, the occasional individual breaking a tackle failing to make amends for their disjointed play and leaden-footed toil.
Joe Marchant raced downfield and was supported by Mike Brown as Quins staged a quick-witted attack before wing Nathan Earle grabbed a loose kick to weave a path into space. Smith’s third penalty extended the lead, while Sale fly-half Robert du Preez could only pull a simple chance wide of the right post.
England prop Joe Marler was reprimanded by Pearce for his trademark sledging, the official warning “enough commentary Joe, it’s winding people up”, and Sale took their revenge early in the second half.
An attacking lineout saw Tuilagi act as a decoy and, with acres of space created on the right, wing McGuigan completed a routine finish. But the comeback was stopped in its tracks in the 57th minute when an ill-advised crossfield kick by du Preez, taken close to his own whitewash, was picked off by Brown.
A lineout drive later and Baldwin was over, with Smith adding the conversion. Replacement AJ MacGinty landed a penalty to give Sale hope, but Quins held out with determination.
"This is Exeter’s time, as everyone has been saying since the salary cap punishments were imposed, but it isn’t easy to live up to the favourites tag"
– @AndyGoode10 ponders the Premiership Rugby title race as the 2019/20 season cranks back into action ???https://t.co/A8lIkp9AVH
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 14, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments