That’s more like it. Third is ours to take, and second remains possible, if only technically.
Five tries, five points and a scoreline that doesn’t reflect Sale’s dominance for ⅞ of the game.
It never reached the heights of squeaky bum time, although there were a couple of flutters that seasoned Sale fans would have started feeling a bit nervous about. It would have been nice to have kept the intensity up for the last five minutes, but we could afford to let them have one bonus point. Two would have increased the pressure on the final weekend. We were fortunate that AJ left his kicking boots in Bristol, or we could have been facing the absolute need to get a five-point victory at Exeter. As it is, any win will do: 3-0, 7-6, 63-5… It doesn’t matter, as long as we win.
When he fields a high ball in space, have you noticed that Joe Carpenter almost always beats the first-up tackler? I was watching him specifically for the first ten minutes, and he always slid past the lead ball chaser and sometimes the second and even the third. But he’s not flashy: he doesn’t do it with big side steps, just a little touch of acceleration at the right moment to leave the defender tackling where he was, not where he is. I think we should appreciate that a bit more.
With the big screen at the south stand end missing, I used the Discovery+ app to catch up on significant events (fortunately, it was about thirty seconds behind the action). About halfway into the first half, we’d racked up over eighty per cent possession and territory. The problem was that we were only three points up at that stage, courtesy of a George Ford penalty after eight minutes.
That situation was remedied a short while later, when Dan du Preez bullied his way over the lineout right after a nice move dragged the Bristol defence across to leave a three-on-one. At first, it looked as if cutting back inside, rather than passing the ball out to the wing, was the wrong move, but, hey, this is DDP: you don’t stop him that easily.
Randall slipped through the defence a few minutes later (a bit too easily, perhaps) to pull five back for Bristol. Fordy kicked another penalty a couple of minutes after that, then, five minutes from half-time, Tadgh picked up from a ruck on the line and collapsed over for the second try.
Fifteen points up at half-time and looking in complete control. What could possibly go wrong?
Sorry? Lester who?
If we were thinking, ‘surely it can’t happen two weeks in a row’, then conceding another try seven minutes after the restart did nothing to help us maintain a sense of equanimity. You could almost hear people thinking, ‘That was a suboptimal occurrence that could negatively impact the desired outcomes vis-á-vis final game points differential’. 1
But then, Jonny Hill took a quick tap penalty from five metres out to more than restore the lead at seventeen points. And the salute to the south stand was much appreciated, Jonny.
But then they got a third, and we’re like, ‘oh, come on, guys’. With more than twenty minutes to go, the likelihood of them picking up a bonus point was very real.
Then, off of an attacking lineout, we got one of those rare moves that go exactly as they did on the training pitch. Ball off the top to Raffi, who shuffled infield and, whilst falling over, pops it up to Rikki, who was running the perfect line to hit the gap in the defence for Sale’s bonus-point try.
Sale sealed the deal with a semi-opportunist try with just under ten minutes to go. Bristol had the ball deep in their own twenty-two. They then put up a, frankly, rubbish clearance kick that went straight into Fordy’s arms. A feint inside, followed by a pass back out to Raffi, who weaved his way past four or five defenders for try number five and a surely uncatchable lead.
Twenty-four points ahead with eight minutes to go: that passes the test, so we can relax, right?
Yeah, maybe that was the problem. Five minutes to go and Bristol are going away with nothing. We’ve been dominant defensively for the whole match, so surely we can see it out. Nope. We seemed to switch off and let them score two and a half tries in that final five minutes. (I say half a try, because Mata spilled a nailed-on chance in the right corner.)
To be fair to Bristol, they were fourteen points behind, with a try bonus point in the bag and about ten seconds to go, but they still went for another and the chance of the losing bonus point.
They didn’t get it, and the game ended with a scoreline that flattered Bristol and hints at work still to be done by Sale in figuring out how to close games out, whether with forty minutes to go or five.
Ignoring the aberrations at the start and end of the second half, this was a dominant display over a team that we seem to have sussed out. We’ve worked out how to stifle their game, and they don’t have an answer (unless we switch off). They’ve been in the Premiership for eight seasons now, and we’ve lost to them four times (with one draw) – twice at home and twice away. In some ways, that makes giving up those last two tries even more irritating.
Fordy deservedly got the man of the match award. Once again, he pulled the strings and directed the play with the touch of a master. It just makes his omission from the Lions squad even more baffling. Selfishly, I’m glad he’s not going because that ten-week layoff for Lions players will hurt us. But it’s a travesty that someone like George Ford should go through his career being ignored for an honour he richly deserves.
Maybe Farrell will see sense and use one of those two alleged spare spaces wisely…
Rikki continues to grow with each game. He’s big and strong, and he can cut a line with the best of them. Don’t believe the “next Manu” hype: Manu liked to run over people, whereas Rikki, I think, is happy to go past them. He’s going to make a big impact next season.
Raffi made up for last week’s brain farts with a much more accomplished performance. He needs to stop trying to impress and just play by feel. Let his natural talent dictate. See his try for evidence of that.
Tadgh McElroy had one of his best games at just the right time. A well-taken try and a workhorse around the park. Good game. His absence from the list of leavers suggests he’ll still be here next season. I hope so; we need cover for Dickie’s ten-week absence.
We’re going to miss J-L…
So, two weeks off to rest up and let any niggles work themselves out before the next big one: Exeter away. I know they’ve had a horrible season, but they’re showing signs of recovery with Baxter back in charge, and there’s a rumour that Feyi-Waboso might be back for our game. Don’t take it lightly: our record at Sandy Park suggests that we’ll get nothing out of it, which would be a disaster.
That said, the prediction is based on an Exeter that is unrecognisable from this one. Whilst they are showing signs of improvement, I haven’t seen anything to suggest that we can’t get the full five points if we play with purpose and focus.
If we win at Exeter and Newcastle beat Leicester, we finish second and get that home semi-final.
Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, any win secures third place. That would mean a trip back to Natalie Woods Welford Road (yes, I will continue to call it that from now on) and a chance at revenge.
Two points will guarantee fourth place, since our extra wins keep us above Sarries and Gloucester.
Anything else, and we are reliant on other results going our way.
All to play for, then. Bring it on.
- Or, as it were, ‘We’re going to bugger this up, aren’t we?’ ↩︎
an old grey dog 