“Sod the supercomputer…”
Thus spake Axe regarding Sale being given a 10% chance of making the playoffs earlier in the season. And, yes, we do seem to have turned a corner over the last few weeks. But let’s not get carried away…
We’ve taken a try bonus point in every home match this season apart from that first game against Quins. We’ve scored thirty-one tries at home in seven games in all competitions – about 4½ tries per game, on average. Conversely, we’ve scored nineteen tries in six away games, or just over three per game. If you factor in that six of those tries were at Doncaster, then thirteen in five games is a pretty poor return, especially when we’d conceded twenty-seven tries in those five games (thirty-two in all six).
I don’t want to minimise a welcome, necessary win ground out in – shall we say? – unfavourable conditions but, even with those try bonuses, it’s still not quite convincing. I’ve mentioned it before: take Bath, Bristol or Sarries and you would back them to get the fourth try if they had three with a couple of minutes to go. We were three up against Exeter with thirty minutes left and we in the crowd were thinking, “We should get the fourth…” If Brizz were three up after fifty minutes, their fans would be expecting another three.
It speaks to an attack that shows a lot of promise but is not currently working at peak efficiency. There are signs that that’s changing, though: it may just be me but it feels as if fewer attacks are breaking down because of sloppy skills or silly penalties. Having said that, two five-metre line-outs being wasted early on says we’re still not quite there in terms of getting rid of the inaccuracies.
Sale’s defence has regained much of its former impenetrability whereas Exeter’s attack seems to have lost most of its force. This was evident when, despite being gifted about three favourable attacking positions in the first five minutes, Exeter chose to kick for the posts when presented with yet another opportunity. A moral victory for Sale’s defence, I thought.
But, from then on, Sale started to take control of the game although it was another fifteen minutes before we took control of the scoreboard, during which time we managed to bugger up two gilt-edged chances by getting the line-out completely wrong. What was that old adage I used to have? “The probability of cocking up a line-out is directly proportional to the attacking threat it provides.”
Twenty minutes in Luke got a tap-on pass from Rob (one of those ones that often comes to nothing but, when it works, it looks sublime), appeared to hesitate over whether to pass it on but then saw the huge gap that had opened in the Exeter defence and went for it. Seven-three ahead and we were away…
A couple of minutes from half-time, Sale had the ball just inside their own half. A wayward pass went to ground but Carps was there to scoop it up and run through yet another gaping hole in Exeter’s defence. With Arron outside, keeping the defender unsure, Carps went something like sixty-five metres for the second try and a half-time score of fourteen points to three. It’s worth putting that on a loop, too.
As with the game against Leicester, it had been a relatively dull half, enlivened by the tries but not exactly brimming with exciting rugby. But then, also as against Leicester, Sale looked to come out for the second half with more purpose.
That purpose was not helped by what one might charitably refer to as “squally weather”. What we did get, though, was a masterclass from Fordy on how to use that weather to your advantage with judicious and accurate kicking. From high bombs to low scudders, he kept Exeter’s defence ragged, pulling them this way and that whilst the rain lashed and the wind swirled.
The reward came ten minutes into the half when, following a series of penalties, Exeter collapsed a driving maul, giving Sale the penalty try and Dafydd Jenkins a ten-minute rest.
We really should have capitalised on the binning but Exeter survived and, within a minute of Jenkins coming back on, had scored a try of their own. It was to be their last score but it illustrates what I meant above about still not being quite clinical enough. We had a perfect opportunity to seal the bonus point, put Exeter even harder under the cosh and get our points difference back above zero.
In fact, it took another ten minutes to get the fourth try, also accompanied by an Exeter binning: Vemeulen this time. And, again, ten minutes against fourteen men resulted in nothing. We did try to give them a consolation score but they weren’t good enough to take it and, eventually, Exeter’s eighteenth penalty gave Fordy the chance to tap and kick the ball dead.
Maybe I’m getting greedy because of the upturn that’s been evident over the last few (home) games. Or maybe I’m looking jealously at fans of Bath and Bristol but, either way, I came out from that game a little flat, despite a bonus-point win1. It felt that, conditions notwithstanding, we should have put them to the sword. Four tries is nice but we left two or three at least out there that should have been put away.
That said, I wouldn’t have wanted to be out on that pitch in that weather – it was bad enough under cover at the back of the south stand.
George Ford got the Player of the Match award but it could equally have gone to Carps for a solid performance and try of the season so far. Like Austin Powers, Luke James is Back, Baby! So good to see after all the troubles he’s had the last couple of years.
The commentators were saying that it wasn’t the night for Raffi but I couldn’t see that. He showed how he is such a different player from Gus and we’re fortunate to have two nines who complement each other so well.
It was a night for stuffing it up the jumper, and kudos to the pack, particularly the front row, who caused Exeter’s scrum all sorts of problems. Asher, at one point, looked particularly miffed at not getting a penalty for single-handedly shoving the Exeter scrum backwards.
So, a good win – a necessary win – but we need to crack on, now. As Alex acknowledged after the game, we need to take that home form on the road and that needs to start on Friday at Ashton Gate.
Certainly, it’s a daunting task, given the form Bristol are in. But, here’s a thing: their two defeats this season have both been at home. They’ve only won one home game so far. Also, we’ve played them seven times at their place in the eight years since they first came up to the Premiership and we’re 4-2 up with one draw. (And we’re 5-2 up at home.)
SAMP™ has us winning narrowly. I’m not so sure – even in defeat, they’ve come away with try bonus points and tries are what we’re still having trouble with. This will be a good test of our revamped defence: and that’s what has been our biggest weapon against them. It’s what failed last January, when we were in the doldrums but it’s what beat them at their place earlier that season.
I’m not expecting it but I’m ever-hopeful of getting one over on them.
1 … Or it could have been down to being grit-blasted with freezing rain in the bus queue.
an old grey dog 