Sale 28 Harlequins 6
By snaderson
April 20 2009
Injuries and international call-ups saw Sale slip down the table, seemingly out of play-off contention. Defeat at Leicester meant that the mathematicians would have to work it all out: the only Sale could do was get maximum points from the last two games, both at home. The first of these, however, was a visit by the high-flying Quins. Snaderson donned his coat of many colours to watch...
April 20 2009
Injuries and international call-ups saw Sale slip down the table, seemingly out of play-off contention. Defeat at Leicester meant that the mathematicians would have to work it all out: the only Sale could do was get maximum points from the last two games, both at home. The first of these, however, was a visit by the high-flying Quins. Snaderson donned his coat of many colours to watch...
There was a slight air of ‘does this game matter’ hanging over this fixture. The play-offs looked out of reach and, thanks to the recondite rules of Heineken Cup qualification, there was little chance of us missing out on next season’s competition. So what was left? Mathematically it was possible for us to make the play-offs, just as it was possible for us to fail to get into the big boys’ European cup. But in the first case we needed bonus points and Harlequins’ defence had been particularly stingy recently, throttling Bath’s usually free-scoring backs and putting the mockers on the Fancy Dans (or BODs) of Leinster. It was going to be a tight game, I predicted, and if we scored four tries it would be a miracle. Eighty minutes later with Wiggy scampering over the line to clinch the try-scoring bonus point, I figured it was time for Psychic Snaders to hang up his crystal ball.
Admittedly there had been a glimmer of hope when the teams news came out and Quins announce they were without both of their first choice fly halves, injured in various bouts of heroics over the preceding weeks. Would this Fijian guy, Luveniyali, prove a bit of a find or a bit of a makeweight? Without the attacking genius of McAlister, the defensive grunt of Thomas and the try-poaching brilliance of Cueto, could we make this opportunity count?
Quins kicked off, we punted the ball back and immediately Luvvy-darling made his first mistake, knocking the ball on just inside the Quins’ half. At the scrum, referee Barnes found something not to his liking and penalised the visitors. Charlie stepped up to give it a bash but, from distance and in a troublesome wind, the ball slewed wide. For a while the play moved up and down the pitch, Sale kicking quite a bit of possession back at Quins, until Sale were penalised just inside their 22m for not rolling away at the tackle. Luvvy lined up to take it and paused…and paused…and eventually hoofed it towards the posts, only for it go wide. The Londoners ran the drop-out kick back and were rewarded with another penalty in the 22m which they opted to take quickly. At the resulting ruck, perhaps 10m out, Ripol stepped through (or came round in Mr Barnes’s opinion) to grab the ball. For his transgression he was blasted with an understandable, if perhaps trigger-happy, yellow card. Quins kicked the penalty to the corner, suggesting they had already lost trust in Luvvy’s place kicking. Again Sale were penalised for offside at the ruck (stepping round and kicking the ball away) but this time Quins, from a better position, went for the posts and Luvvy found his mark (if no more quickly). 0 – 3 after 12 minutes.
Shortly after this Strettle limped off the field with an ankle problem (judging by the brace he was wearing when he hobbled out to watch the second half) to be replaced by Danny Care, which led to some reshuffling, though Andy Gomarsall kept his place at scrum half. There was more toing and froing up and down the pitch with a bit of loose play, some good attacking running from Sale spoilt by handling errors, and some aggressive turnovers in the rucks from the Quins forwards. At 25 minutes, the visitors were rewarded with another penalty and Gomers had a go this time. He missed too. Quite a few of the London lads were starting to look tired, with a number of stoppages for treatment as well as a few just being slow to get up again. For Sale, Mathew Tait was looking very active in both attack and defence, but it was a Peel chip, chased strongly by David Doherty, that really rattled Quins. Their fullback was tackled in-goal leading to a series of 5m scrums. Mr Barnes kept penalising Quins and kept resetting the scrums. After six scrums, the tighthead was sin-binned but, despite the crowd’s impartial advice, he didn’t award a penalty try (it probably made sense in his head, if no one else’s). The next couple of scrums popped up and the forwards were starting to show the strain. Eifion Roberts received a bit of attention (after some excellent defence work in the loose earlier on) and Sherri seemed to be eager for more of the same. Eventually on the ninth (count ‘em) scrum, our mate Wayne jogged away from the Verdun-like mess of the corner and awarded the penalty try. At last it stopped our Led Zep singalong of ‘How Many More Times?’
There were three more minutes of the half left to play, but the pack must have been dreaming of the changing rooms. With 39 minutes on the clock, Sherri was pinged for grabbing a Quins player round the ankles some metres behind a ruck. He probably just wanted a hand getting up. Luvvy went for the posts and missed again, leaving the half time score 7 – 3 in Sale’s favour.
The second half started brightly for Sale with some energetic running – and a couple of butchered overlaps (a pet peeve of mine). A series of forward drives under the Quins posts quickly led to the second try, eventually awarded to Seabass, though a now limping Dean Schofield received a lot of the credit from the other players. Charlie slotted the simple conversion. 42 minutes, 14 – 3. Things were a bit flat for a while but on 60 minutes the impressive Jordan Turner-Hall found a gap through the middle of the Sale defence (a hint of obstruction, I thought) and made a break. Nick Easter followed it up and, as he had done all match, gained more yards. Sale were penalised and Gomers kicked the easy points. But three minutes later, back in the Quins’ half, Sale got a penalty in their turn and chose to put it to touch. ‘Give it to Jonesy,’ said John to my side, and the ball did just that, coming off the top and moving quickly into midfield where Rudi Keil took it on, looked to pass it and instead found himself looking at a big gap. He didn’t need a second invitation and dashed in under the posts for a very popular score. Charlie added the extras to give Sale a 21 – 6 lead.
The pendulum swung the other way again and Turner-Hall found himself crossing the Sale line on 67 minutes, only to be held up. Sale defended the scrum well and it all came to nothing. Time was running out. The game was certainly ours but the unlikely try-scoring bonus still seemed out of reach. We got a lineout on our 10m line with around 90 seconds to go. It looked to be the last play with a nice, if a little unexpected, win under our belts. The ball, however, came off the top and out to Mat Tait. After a little bit of sideways running, he aimed towards the Quins’ line. There were a few bodies in the way so he chucked it out to Ripol who danced and skipped round a few of them. Everyone was charging upfield and Ori shipped the ball inside to Wiggy who made no mistake from 10m out in dotting down over the line. He was immediately swamped by a sea of Sharks, and rightly so. Charlie made it a neat four tries, four conversions and it was all over.
I think it was the first time I had seen it, but a big group of the players, led by the ever-outstanding Lobbe, did a full circuit of the pitch to acknowledge the fans. One player who didn’t make it round was Neil Briggs, who I would nominate as Man of the Match. He was utterly tireless in his efforts and kept going despite looking out on his feet. At one point he was pole-axed and took a long time to regain his feet. The physios ran over and he just shooed them away and re-took his place in the defensive line. Top man.
And so, we’re still in the hunt. Perhaps we might make the play-offs. Maybe, just maybe. Heineken Cup qualification ensured, can the boys summon up the same level of commitment? It’s a big ask and I’m not making any predictions.
Admittedly there had been a glimmer of hope when the teams news came out and Quins announce they were without both of their first choice fly halves, injured in various bouts of heroics over the preceding weeks. Would this Fijian guy, Luveniyali, prove a bit of a find or a bit of a makeweight? Without the attacking genius of McAlister, the defensive grunt of Thomas and the try-poaching brilliance of Cueto, could we make this opportunity count?
Quins kicked off, we punted the ball back and immediately Luvvy-darling made his first mistake, knocking the ball on just inside the Quins’ half. At the scrum, referee Barnes found something not to his liking and penalised the visitors. Charlie stepped up to give it a bash but, from distance and in a troublesome wind, the ball slewed wide. For a while the play moved up and down the pitch, Sale kicking quite a bit of possession back at Quins, until Sale were penalised just inside their 22m for not rolling away at the tackle. Luvvy lined up to take it and paused…and paused…and eventually hoofed it towards the posts, only for it go wide. The Londoners ran the drop-out kick back and were rewarded with another penalty in the 22m which they opted to take quickly. At the resulting ruck, perhaps 10m out, Ripol stepped through (or came round in Mr Barnes’s opinion) to grab the ball. For his transgression he was blasted with an understandable, if perhaps trigger-happy, yellow card. Quins kicked the penalty to the corner, suggesting they had already lost trust in Luvvy’s place kicking. Again Sale were penalised for offside at the ruck (stepping round and kicking the ball away) but this time Quins, from a better position, went for the posts and Luvvy found his mark (if no more quickly). 0 – 3 after 12 minutes.
Shortly after this Strettle limped off the field with an ankle problem (judging by the brace he was wearing when he hobbled out to watch the second half) to be replaced by Danny Care, which led to some reshuffling, though Andy Gomarsall kept his place at scrum half. There was more toing and froing up and down the pitch with a bit of loose play, some good attacking running from Sale spoilt by handling errors, and some aggressive turnovers in the rucks from the Quins forwards. At 25 minutes, the visitors were rewarded with another penalty and Gomers had a go this time. He missed too. Quite a few of the London lads were starting to look tired, with a number of stoppages for treatment as well as a few just being slow to get up again. For Sale, Mathew Tait was looking very active in both attack and defence, but it was a Peel chip, chased strongly by David Doherty, that really rattled Quins. Their fullback was tackled in-goal leading to a series of 5m scrums. Mr Barnes kept penalising Quins and kept resetting the scrums. After six scrums, the tighthead was sin-binned but, despite the crowd’s impartial advice, he didn’t award a penalty try (it probably made sense in his head, if no one else’s). The next couple of scrums popped up and the forwards were starting to show the strain. Eifion Roberts received a bit of attention (after some excellent defence work in the loose earlier on) and Sherri seemed to be eager for more of the same. Eventually on the ninth (count ‘em) scrum, our mate Wayne jogged away from the Verdun-like mess of the corner and awarded the penalty try. At last it stopped our Led Zep singalong of ‘How Many More Times?’
There were three more minutes of the half left to play, but the pack must have been dreaming of the changing rooms. With 39 minutes on the clock, Sherri was pinged for grabbing a Quins player round the ankles some metres behind a ruck. He probably just wanted a hand getting up. Luvvy went for the posts and missed again, leaving the half time score 7 – 3 in Sale’s favour.
The second half started brightly for Sale with some energetic running – and a couple of butchered overlaps (a pet peeve of mine). A series of forward drives under the Quins posts quickly led to the second try, eventually awarded to Seabass, though a now limping Dean Schofield received a lot of the credit from the other players. Charlie slotted the simple conversion. 42 minutes, 14 – 3. Things were a bit flat for a while but on 60 minutes the impressive Jordan Turner-Hall found a gap through the middle of the Sale defence (a hint of obstruction, I thought) and made a break. Nick Easter followed it up and, as he had done all match, gained more yards. Sale were penalised and Gomers kicked the easy points. But three minutes later, back in the Quins’ half, Sale got a penalty in their turn and chose to put it to touch. ‘Give it to Jonesy,’ said John to my side, and the ball did just that, coming off the top and moving quickly into midfield where Rudi Keil took it on, looked to pass it and instead found himself looking at a big gap. He didn’t need a second invitation and dashed in under the posts for a very popular score. Charlie added the extras to give Sale a 21 – 6 lead.
The pendulum swung the other way again and Turner-Hall found himself crossing the Sale line on 67 minutes, only to be held up. Sale defended the scrum well and it all came to nothing. Time was running out. The game was certainly ours but the unlikely try-scoring bonus still seemed out of reach. We got a lineout on our 10m line with around 90 seconds to go. It looked to be the last play with a nice, if a little unexpected, win under our belts. The ball, however, came off the top and out to Mat Tait. After a little bit of sideways running, he aimed towards the Quins’ line. There were a few bodies in the way so he chucked it out to Ripol who danced and skipped round a few of them. Everyone was charging upfield and Ori shipped the ball inside to Wiggy who made no mistake from 10m out in dotting down over the line. He was immediately swamped by a sea of Sharks, and rightly so. Charlie made it a neat four tries, four conversions and it was all over.
I think it was the first time I had seen it, but a big group of the players, led by the ever-outstanding Lobbe, did a full circuit of the pitch to acknowledge the fans. One player who didn’t make it round was Neil Briggs, who I would nominate as Man of the Match. He was utterly tireless in his efforts and kept going despite looking out on his feet. At one point he was pole-axed and took a long time to regain his feet. The physios ran over and he just shooed them away and re-took his place in the defensive line. Top man.
And so, we’re still in the hunt. Perhaps we might make the play-offs. Maybe, just maybe. Heineken Cup qualification ensured, can the boys summon up the same level of commitment? It’s a big ask and I’m not making any predictions.
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