A second half Sale domination was enough to get a convincing Champions Cup win over French side Racing 92, with the hosts ending as bonus point winners 29-7.
It started off cagey, with only three first half tries scored between the two sides. Plenty of needless penalties and a couple of missed kicks summed up a first half that will not live long in the memory. The saving grace was the fact it was tight and set up a second half with all to play for.
It opened up for Sale in the second period, with some free-flowing rugby being played. Racing barely laid a glove on them the whole half, and it resulted in a deserved victory against a second-string Racing team.
Ben Curry got himself player of the match after some powerful play, with a try added to his tally too.
It marks Sale’s first win this season in the competition, and there will still be hope from the Sharks faithful that qualification is on the cards.
Here are the Sharks’ player ratings from the big win.
Sale Sharks- 19
TRIES: 4 Jean-Luc du Preez 19’ Tom Roebuck 34’ Joe Carpenter 51’ Ben Curry 60’
CONVERSIONS: 3 Rob du Preez 35’ 52’ 62’
PENALTIES: 1 Rob du Preez 67’
DROP GOALS:
YELLOW CARDS:
RED CARDS:
Sale Sharks starting XV:
15. Joe Carpenter 14. Tom Roebuck 13. Rob du Preez 12. Luke James 11. Tom O’Flaherty 10. George Ford 9. Gus Warr 1. Bevan Rodd 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie 3. James Harper 4. Ben Bamber 5. Jonny Hill 6. Jean-Luc du Preez 7. Ben Curry (c) 8. Dan du Preez
Replacements:
16. Tadgh McElroy 17. Simon McIntyre 18. WillGriff John 19. Josh Beaumont 20. Sam Dugdale 21. Raffi Quirke 22. Waisea Nayacalevu 23. Alex Wills
Racing 92- 7
TRIES: 1 Guram Gogiachasvili 40’
CONVERSIONS: 1 Nolann Le Garrec 40’
PENALTIES:
DROP GOALS:
YELLOW CARDS: 1 Maxime Baudonne 60’
RED CARDS:
Racing 92 starting XV:
15. Tristan Tedder 14. Henry Arundell 13. Sam James 12. Henry Chavancy 11. Max Spring 10. Dan Lancaster 9. Nolann Le Garrec 1. Guram Gogichashvili 2. Camile Chat 3. Lucio Sordoni 4. Junior Kpoku 5. Will Rowlands 6. Cameron Woki (c) 7. Maxime Baudonne 8. Hacjivah Dayimani
Replacements:
16. Diego Escobar 17. Lino Julien 18. Gia Kharaishvili 19. Fabien Sanconnie 20. Ibrahim Diallo 21. Clovis Le Ball 22. Antoine Gilbert 23. Wame Naituvi
Sale player ratings:
Sale player ratings:
15- Joe Carpenter 7
Led from the back very well with a couple of lovely line breaks and some fast ball movement to kick start attacks.
Got himself on the score sheet and although it was very difficult to miss, he needed to be in the position to keep up play from a Roebuck run.
14- Tom Roebuck 8
His arial game was on fine form, such is the case a lot of the time with Roebuck.
This was epitomised with an outstanding take at halfway, which led to him spinning past is man and calmly offloading to Joe Carpenter to give Sale a healthy lead at the time.
13-Rob du Preez 7.5
Good kicking as usual and although his general play with ball in hand wasnot oustanding, his point scoring ultimately helped Sale towards their big win.
Did well defensively with a few big hits.
12- Luke James 6.5
Solid shift from James despite not living up to the high performance levels shown against Tigers.
Looked well up for the battle with his brother, even going out of his way to give Sam a push during a scuffle in the first half.
11- Tom O’Flaherty 7
A very good shift for Tom, who looked dangerous throughout. An early slip may have had some worried about how the night would go for him, but he came off on the 52nd minute to a warm embrace from Alex Sanderson and a roaring ovation, such were his efforts tonight.
10- George Ford 6.5
Controlled play throughout and some good claims in difficult situations helped to alleviate the pressure a couple of times.
Not at his absolute best but even a poor George Ford is better than most players out there.
Some absolutely class quick ball movement for Sale’s second try, where he showed the composure and maturity that he so often has.
9- Gus Warr 6
Did not get involved as much as he would have liked. A bit soft in the tackle at times and not a whole lot of impact overall.
Will not live long in the memory for him but did not disgrace himself.
1- Bevan Rodd 7
Solid defensive work, with a nice block in the first half from a box kick setting the tone for Rodd.
Some scrum penalties were won thanks to Rodd, and he led well in difficult circumstances after an early forced substitution at loosehead.
2- Luke Cowan-Dickie 6.5
His lineouts left a bit to be desired tonight, and he failed to complete only his third this year.
Was let down a little bit by his locks.
3- James Harper N/A
Came off after 10 minutes with injury to be replaced by WillGriff John.
4-Ben Bamber 6
A late, tough tackle was about as good as it got for Ben. He wasn’t much of an ariel threat in lineouts and was partially at fault for the Racing try, being outstrengthed way too easily in a maul.
5- Jonny Hill 6.5
In his return after a long absense Jonny did not look out of place one bit. Still had the physicality that he is known for and absolutely nailed a Racing player who was completely exposed.
His return will be a healthy addition to Alex Sanderson’s side and provides some good depth.
6- Jean-Luc du Preez 6.5
Opened the try scoring on the night and carried well.
A few missed tackles take the shine off it slightly for JLDP, but it was a powerful performance in which he dominated his opposition for large portions.
7- Ben Curry (c) 7.5
Awarded player of the match for a very strong game, the highlight of which came from him crashing over the line following a lineout.
His defensive work was unmatched, and holding Racing to a solitary try was largely due to a Curry masterclass.
8- Dan du Preez 6
Some needless mistakes mixed with some moments of class ball carrying even themselves out to make a decent but unspectacular performance for DDP.
Did what he needed to to secure his team the win, so this rating may be considered slightly harsh, but the fact of the matter is that he lacked a bit of something.
Replacements 6.5
The only replacement who had a significant impact on the game was prop WillGriff John, who came on early for an injured James Harper.
Apart from him, the changes had good cameos but nothing which will give Alex Sanderson any selection headaches.
They saw out the game well, and credit should be given for that.
