Dear Prudence

Ok – let’s be honest: you were expecting a battle on Friday, weren’t you? I know I was. It was going to be a very closely fought, tight game between 2 teams who expect quite rightly to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. It was probably going to be too close to call and was more than likely that either a penalty or an inadequate refereeing performance would determine the final outcome.

Well, how wrong can you be? Sure we got a battle of sorts, though it was more one of attrition with the occasional skirmish thrown in, and yes too, we got the over-officious, zealous and infuriating officiating that seems to be par for the course these days. What was unexpected though was the manner of the victory. Sale were dominant and I’m not sure the score line adequately reflects this. Make no mistake, Gloucester are a decent side with great potential and some fantastic players, yet they weren’t given a sniff: Dean Ryan might choose to lay the blame on the shoulders of the hapless Ryan Lamb even though he was being asked to play a game that doesn’t come naturally to him, but there was far more to it than that. Sale bossed the match from the off in both attack and defence and made the team who recently beat Bath at the Rec look very ordinary indeed. Oh happy days.

From the kick off it was immediately obvious that Sale were going to take the game to Gloucester: no shrinking violets here, simply an in-your-face, no holds barred, front foot game plan. McAlister’s high floated kick off was taken by Bortalami fractionally before he was smashed by the combined force of Abraham and Ormsby. Lamb may have cleared downfield, but the ball came straight back at the Cherry and Whites: Charlie’s jinking run taking Sale back into the Gloucester half and forcing the infringement at the ruck as the visitors were pinged for going off their feet. Big Mac slotted over the kick from just inside the Gloucester half to give Sale an early lead.

Early on it looked like it could’ve turned into the contest that we all expected, as Gloucester looked to fight fire with fire: Lamb sent a neat little chip over the advancing Sale line forcing a 10 metre defensive line out and Vainikolo made one of his trademark bullocking runs before being brought to ground by Thomas. Game on, you would’ve thought. Unfortunately that didn’t take into account the man with the whistle, the IRB’s directive about policing the breakdown and 22 penalties.

The law about staying on your feet at a ruck has always been there, and in fairness hasn’t always been applied as strictly as it could’ve been. Munster amongst others have used it to their advantage over the years with Leamy, O’Connell, Hayes and O’Callaghan being past masters at flopping onto the ball at the breakdown, effectively sealing off the pill from the opposition to such an extent that even Richie McCaw would struggle to get his mitts in there. Something did need to be done and maybe some form of clarification and tinkering round the edges was to be welcomed. What no-one wanted was a zero tolerance policy that punishes every error at the breakdown and kills any momentum that an attacking team tries to generate. Even those players driven off their feet yet beyond the ball and therefore out of the frame are penalised. The ELVs were introduced to speed up the game and make it more exciting. The IRB ‘clarification’ about staying on your feet ironically, runs the risk of bringing the game to its knees.

Now I wouldn’t like to be a referee, especially now when every performance and decision you make is analysed to the nth degree by assessors, but surely there’s room for the application of a little common sense: interpretation should you’d think be the key to successful officiating. If the laws are deliberately broken to secure an unfair advantage, then penalise the offenders. If there’s no advantage gained, then leave it well alone. Spectators pay to watch rugby, not foot tennis. If I wanted to see a ball being lumped up and down an arena, I’d go to Roland-Garros. Thank goodness I wasn’t sat in the McAfee or Vernon stands with nothing to show but 35 minutes of dull fare and a stiff neck.

Where did all that come from? Suppressed anger seeping out there: better lie down in a darkened room for a while. I’ll get my coat and say no more, save come on chaps, sort it out before it kills the game, and while we’re on the subject, if this is the way it’s going to be, then make sure it applies in Super 14 too. Right, down off the soapbox now and back to business.

When it became obvious that Mr Small would blow at the slightest provocation, the game changed and stopped being a contest. No team is ever going to try to run the ball out of their own half, let alone their 22 when you’ve got a trigger-happy official: it doesn’t make sense because sod’s law says you’ll be penalised soon as not and concede 3 points. So you kick for territory and hope that your kicker’s better than theirs and that you either force a mistake from your opponents or get a slice of luck. That’s all well and good if only one of the teams does it, but when they’re both at it all you end up with is stalemate. Forget not wanting to be a ref, thank God I’m not a coach (fortunately that’s never likely to happen, so you can all breathe that collective sigh of relief!). How frustrating must it be to have a full week’s planning and preparation undermined by inconsistent officiating, or worse consistently bad refereeing?

In Charlie Hodgson, Sale have one of the best tactical kickers in the game and his astute vision and controlling of what was effectively a chess game gave the Sharks the edge in a dull and rather dreary first half. Ryan Lamb is no kicker – he’s got great hands and a quick rugby brain, but his kicking out of hand leaves a little to be desired. Dean Ryan might criticise this aspect of his game, but you know what you’re likely to get before a ball’s kicked. It’s a bit rich and, you could argue, distasteful having a pop at a player in public when you yourself set out the stall.

A further McAlister penalty was answered in kind by Olly Barkley who slotted over 2 of his own. Any attacking promise came solely from Sale. Lamont looked comfortable at full back and was imperious under the high balls that rained down on him. Chabal looked revitalised and began to show the sort of form last seen against Stade Francais: one storming run down the flank saw him make over 30 metres, leaving Big Les clutching at thin air as he tried to get him into touch. David Doherty too showed great promise and but for the timing of Lamont’s pass could’ve been over for the first try with 20 minutes on the clock and been over for a second had the Volcano not smashed him into touch.

The line out was reliable, the scrum effective and the broken field play adventurous but you got the sense that Sale were almost trying too hard, forcing passes that weren’t really on in order to break the deadlock. But it was good to see the team have a go at throwing the ball around. The conditions were perfect and the ball rotation very good, but the final pass just wasn’t on the money. Gloucester disappointingly produced very little and rarely ventured out of their own half. Defensively Sale were as solid as a rock as we’ve come to expect recently and you could almost have been forgiven for forgetting that Simpson Daniel was playing. I can’t actually remember him touching the ball, cutting a very lonely and frustrated presence on the wing.

So even Stevens at the break, 6 apiece. Philippe Saint Andre looked frustrated at the break and rightly so: territorially Sale were superior and they’d had the bulk of attacking play, yet for all the endeavour had little to show. The only advantage the Sharks had was the number of penalties conceded – 7 as opposed to Gloucester’s 5: on that basis, it seems the more you try to play with attacking intent, the more you’re penalised. When was that rule introduced?

With only a minute or two played of the second half, Sale’s game plan became obvious. Take the ball to Gloucester, use your physicality more and utilise the flanks to stretch the game. Little if anything came back from the opposition – they were too busy fending off Chabal who looked well and truly fired up. Thomas too, not content with battering Narraway from his position at first receiver on the defensive set piece, began to steamroller his way up field whenever the chance presented itself, abetted by Big Mac. The line out began to stutter a little and 3 successive set pieces were fluffed. Nonetheless, the scrum looked solid and the introduction of Faure simply bolstered this superiority. The supporters desperately wanted a score and as the minutes ticked by you could almost sense it coming. All that was needed was either a bit of a break or quick, accurate ball.

That it should come from Seabass was probably not the biggest surprise. Peel replaced Wiggy and with his first touch fed a fizzing ball out to Chabal after Faure had turned over Gloucester’s line out. Seabass peeled off the back of the set piece and charged for the line. The intent was there for all to see – he wanted it and nothing was going to stand in his way. Nothing did, and perhaps that’s rather fortunate as you suspect had anyone tried to stop him, he might well have left the field horizontally. Big Mac converted from the angle and finally Sale got the point’s margin that their enterprise had undoubtedly merited.

As if on cue, party pooper Small immediately redressed the balance by penalising the Sharks at the breakdown. Did Sale come in from the side? Who can say? If they did, it was marginal. The referee’s radar was finely tuned at the tackle area and he was able to spot infringements that few others noticed, with a little help from his friends running the lines. It’s a shame the same obsession wasn’t devoted to applying the new 5 metre offside line at the base of the scrum: according to my reading of the ELVs, it applies to Barkley and Tindall too, but you’d never have guessed it. Barkley dispatched the penalty and brought Gloucester to within one score.

The assistant was on hand to try to redress the balance even further when he attracted the referee’s attention to Rory’s tackle on Tindall. It was, I’d have to say, a fair call as Tindall was still airborne when Lamont tackled him and he did come down with a thump. The only aspect I might question was whether there was intent there. Rory never took his eyes off the ball and certainly didn’t appear to target the man, but the assistant, from a distance I might add, called it and he got his marching orders. Even when down to 14 men though, Sale rarely looked troubled. The defence this season has been awesome: there’s grit and determination there and you get the feeling it’s going to take something special to get through it: that’s a big ask at any ground, especially at fortress Edgeley. (apologies for that phrase as I hate it, but sometimes you just have to do it)

McAlister couldn’t increase the lead with his 2 penalties though it’s fair to say they were long range and from awkward angles. It probably didn’t help that Bortalami decided to demonstrate his speciality Pilates stretching slap bang in front of Big Mac. Alright, he got a telling off from the ref, but it didn’t stop him doing it. The kicking duties were passed on to Lee Thomas. He obviously couldn’t care less if the big number 4 stood there, converting a monster kick from inside his own half after Gloucester had been penalised for offside at the breakdown. Bomber’s got one hell of a boot on him. Barkley wasn’t able to respond in similar fashion when Sale were penalised at the scrum for not driving in straight.

From the restart Sale recycled the ball and Peel fed Chabal on the crash ball. He managed to make 10 yards before feeding the ball out to Big Mac. The All Black showed what a turn of pace he has by ghosting past Barkley, who’s no slouch, then cutting back in on his inside shoulder through the gap between Barkley and Lawson and darting into the Gloucester 22. He drew Narraway’s covering tackle and zipped the ball out to Doherty on the flank. The winger had the easiest of chances and dabbed the ball over the line. ‘Forward’ cried the Gloucester fans. Was it – probably, but who cares: you have to ride your luck sometimes and when you get the breaks you’ve got to accept them. Besides, it was such a classy move, it deserved it: a top notch break from a top notch player. Bomber converted from the acutest of angles, taking Sale 2 scores clear.

Bar for a final flurry from Gloucester where Sale were for once on the back foot after a 5 metre defensive line out, the Cherry and Whites offered very little. For those who wanted a true contest I suppose it was disappointing. Frankly, I’ll take the win and the points but I too was surprised by how little threat Gloucester produced. Balshaw looked very flaky at full back and even Narraway produced little of note in spite of his growing reputation. Poor old Lamb took most of the flak, and however justified some of the criticism may have been, I actually felt quite sorry for him. Dean Ryan wasn’t best pleased, but you kind’ve sense that very little does actually please him anyway. Besides, with such solid defence, even if they’d played more to their potential, I doubt whether they would’ve left Edgeley Park with anything.

Next up, the nemesis – London Irish. Last time we went down to the Madjeski Stadium we seriously underperformed. I wrote some things I possibly shouldn’t – no, scratch that, I wrote some things I genuinely believed in. This time it will be different. This is an entirely different team, a team with purpose and intent and a team that will fight to the bitter end. It’s a tough ask – there I said it again – but I’m hopeful that this time we’re up to the task. Our defensive mettle will surely be tested as the NotNots are a team that like to attack. Judging by our displays so far, we should be up to the task. We’ve also shown that given the opportunity we can score too. On such a wide open park there should be more than enough room and opportunity to carve out a few openings and make teams really start to fear us. If it turns out to be a kicking contest with few points, then I’ll take that. Without wishing to sound too like Gordon Brown, if we have to play pragmatically and conservatively to achieve our goals, then so be it. I’ll take the prudence road. Having said that though, I’d prefer to run them off the park and cast aside last season’s demons. We owe them one – well actually two, if you’re going to be pedantic!
 

Check out Joe90's blog at http://joe90column.blogspot.com/ 
 

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