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Sale get Premiership title challenge back on the road with win at Wasps
Sale claimed their first win since exiting lockdown by emerging emphatic 20-11 winners over Wasps in a Gallagher Premiership arm wrestle at the Ricoh Arena. After defeats to Harlequins and Exeter, the Sharks reinforced their title challenge with a commanding display that elevated them above their opponents and into third place.
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It was heavy going with few highlights, a blustery wind and spells of rain taking their toll, but Sale surged clear in a productive third quarter with Luke James’ 61st-minute try proving to be the decisive blow.
Fly-half AJ MacGinty had kicked them into a solid lead before James struck as the culmination to a series of drives by a big Sharks pack that battered the home forwards out of contention.
Once again Jack Willis shone in front of England head coach Eddie Jones, but even the 23-year-old flanker’s try-scoring presence could not prevent Wasps from slipping to a first defeat since the break for Covid-19 ended.
Alongside Exeter, Lee Blackett’s men were the Premiership’s form team since the competition resumed and they reverted to their strongest XV in the hope of strengthening their claim to a top-four spot only to hit the buffers.
Huge score for Sale!
Luke James with some lovely hands and goes over the whitewash ? pic.twitter.com/5mKbC6X3U6
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) August 25, 2020
Aided by a 5-1 penalty count in their favour, an under-strength Sale dominated the opening quarter but only had a MacGinty penalty to show for the reams of territory and possession generated by the hard work of their pack.
Even the efforts of the omnipresent Willis failed to break the Sharks’ stranglehold on the game and in one passage alone he challenged for a kick, won the ball and powered forward through heavy traffic until he was bundled into touch.
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A driving maul launched from a line-out reversed the game’s momentum but Sale continued to smother and the danger passed. Wasps had discovered a tactic that worked for them, however, and they were successful again with the same tool to finally sustain a meaningful attack that ended in a penalty by Jimmy Gopperth.
Tommy Taylor’s illegal poach allowed MacGinty to kick a tricky three points in the conditions but the score was levelled when a ferocious battle on the ground saw Ben Curry penalised with Gopperth on target.
Brad Shields was fully involved in the scramble on the floor but he was temporarily replaced shortly after, while the attack had been made possible by Willis running on to Jacob Umaga’s flat pass and accelerating through a hole.
Sale finished the half with the lead they deserved when MacGinty slotted his third penalty and play resumed after the interval with the familiar sight of their scrum driving Wasps backwards.
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The squeeze continued and daylight opened up when MacGinty rewarded the ascendancy of his pack with six additional points as the scrum became a recurring nightmare for the home side.
And with reinforcements arriving from the bench, including World Cup winner Lood De Jager, they bulldozed forward with a series of forward drives that ended with James being sent over by Denny Solomona.
Wasps controlled the remainder of the game and crossed through Willis, but they search for the bonus point fell short when Gopperth missed the conversion.
"Our depth gets questioned a lot, but the lads who came in today stepped up and did the club proud."
Captaincy is coming easy to Ben Curry, he reflects on Sale's win at Wasps. pic.twitter.com/7NBcKGC3qu
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) August 25, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
An 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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 commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
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