1
Sale moved up to second in the Gallagher Premiership table after a battling 26-10 triumph over Leicester at the AJ Bell Stadium.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Sharks dominated the first half and deservedly went 16-0 ahead through Byron McGuigan’s try and 11 points from the boot of AJ MacGinty.
Leicester did get on the board just shy of the interval via Zack Henry’s penalty but MacGinty was on target again for the hosts to restore their 16-point lead.
Although the Tigers threatened to come back following two yellow cards for Alex Sanderson’s men and a penalty try, Marland Yarde sealed Sale’s win going into the final 10 minutes.
The opening stages of the contest set the tone as the home side played with physicality and intensity, while the visitors struggled with their discipline.
Leicester conceded a number of penalties, allowing Sanderson’s charges to build pressure, and the Tigers found themselves 10-0 down after 11 minutes.
MacGinty opened the scoring for the Sharks with a three-pointer before they manufactured a fine try with the fly-half once again to the fore.
ADVERTISEMENT
Yarde made the crucial incursion down the right before play was shifted to the other side and a wonderful pass from the pivot enabled McGuigan to surge across the whitewash.
The Tigers had failed to fire a shot in the initial exchanges before they almost created a score via some excellent work from Johnny McPhillips.
Kobus van Wyk was sent clear down the right but Sale’s cover defence did just enough to put off the wing as he attempted to find Henry on the inside.
After that opportunity went awry, the hosts went back on the front foot and forced Leicester into several more errors.
ADVERTISEMENT
Two infringements inside their own half opened the opportunity for MacGinty to extend the Sharks’ buffer and he made no mistake for a 16-0 lead.
Steve Borthwick’s men did narrow the gap slightly thanks to Henry’s penalty, but the Greater Manchester outfit held a comfortable advantage at the break.
Sale then started the second period as they did the first and almost scored their second try when Luke James, Tom Curry and MacGinty combined to allow McGuigan the space to scamper away.
However, the wing was caught and the move broke down, which meant they had to be content with another three-pointer from their fly-half.
Leicester needed a response and they finally earned a chance inside the opposition 22. They went through the phases, forcing the Sharks to infringe on several occasions and it eventually led to a yellow card for Jean-Luc du Preez.
Sanderson’s team were under significant duress and their discipline issues came back to haunt them as James deliberately knocked the ball on, leading to a sin-binning and a Tigers penalty try.
With their opponents down to 13, the visitors sought to capitalise but they were unable to take advantage, despite a searing break from talented youngster Freddie Steward.
To the Sharks’ credit, they held out well and once they were back up to 15 they touched down for the second time to secure the victory thanks to a close-range effort from the in-form Yarde.
Comments on RugbyPass
late 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
4 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?
9 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.
9 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.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments