By Cap'n Major Bloodnok
January 25 2016

The return match. After a bit of a tonking down in Wales, Sale were looking for revenge and the chance to top the group. Two points behind, Sale were looking for a bonus point win to seal top spot and a home quarter final tie.

Rugby on a Thursday evening? Sheesh, it just feels wrong. For one thing, Monday-Thursday are baaaad days for evening traffic going clockwise on the M60 – I used to work in Trafford Park and it seemed to be always nose-to-tail and barely moving. I was most grateful that my journey home took me in the other direction.

And so it proved on this particular Thursday. Forced into driving because my usual transport was not running (thanks Dave! Torremolinos, huh!), motorway traffic pretty much doubled the time of my journey. Thanks, Sky.

I arrived with the game about a minute and a half old, and Sale (in the fluorescent change kit for some reason) were attacking the North Stand.

And attacking, and attacking, and attacking. I haven’t seen the stats, but the impression was that NGD barely made it into the Sale half for the entire first forty minutes. Guys, do you think you could do that one of these days when you’re facing the South Stand? As it is, it feels as if rugby is a game that’s played 100 yards away.

It’s nice to be able to report that Sale dominated a half, both up front and in the backs (although the one stems from the other, mostly). And dominate they did: nicked a coupled of lineouts, mullered a couple of scrums and looked bright and sharp ball in hand. You can see the effect of the recent coaching changes. And, I have to say, it looks to me that we’re a bit brighter if either Sammy or Johnny plays alongside a younger centre, When the two play together, we can become, I feel, a bit turgid.

Also, Stringer. I’ve always hated Stringer, for the simple reason that he’s always played for the wrong team. He now plays for the right team, and I’m happy as Larry. It was Stringer’s quick service from the base that was responsible for so much of Sale’s dominance in this game.

Anyways, ten minutes or so into the game and Dragons’ wing Amos was given a 10-minute rest for a deliberate knock-on. That gave Danny an easy penalty for the first score, 3-0.

Five minutes later, and a rapid shift of the ball from the left wing to the right put it into the hands of that well-known sprint master, Mooj.

Now, there are those who will skip and dance their way around the defence to get to the try line (a certain Jason somebody-or-other, for example). Mooj takes a more pragmatic approach ­– the straight line. A ten metre rumble with Dragons bouncing off and flying all over the place saw the first try, which Cips converted fairly easily. 10-0.

Just before Amos was due back, a five-metre scrum whipped round like a puppy chasing its tail, and the ref (who was having a good game) immediately awarded the penalty try. 17-0 and an expensive knock-on.

Dragons did make a break into the Sale half, but the unfamiliar terrain confused and disoriented them. They went off their feet, and play went back to its more accustomed location up the other end.

Sam James looked to have scored, but the replay showed that he’d dropped the ball, and a bit later Ostrikov thought he’d scored, but the replay was inconclusive (actually, I thought it looked short from one angle, so no complaints).

Then just like last week, try 3 came on the stroke of half time. From the scrum following Ostrikov’s non-try, Josh picked up, battered his way over and made sure the ref had a clear view of the grounding. Danny kicked number 4 from 4 to make it 24-0 at the break.

If this match were covered by Test Match Special, what happened about five minutes into the second half would have been the nailed-on Champagne Moment.

Stringer shipped the ball from a ruck just inside the Sale half out to Cipriani, who took on the Dragons’ defensive line. A little left-footed grubber, a squeeeeeeze between two defenders, a nice bounce from the ball and Danny was taking play back against the drift of the defence. A lovely flat and not-at-all-forwards pass to Nev, and there was the bonus point try out wide on the left.

To a chorus of “are you watching, Eddie Jones”, Cipriani nailed the touchline conversion. 31-0 and it was looking like a rout.

Dragons had been showing a bit more promise in the second half and got their reward half way through when Ashton Hewitt scored thanks to a surprisingly porous Sale defence. Conversion missed: 31-5

By this point, half the team had been replaced and things were losing shape a bit and the Sale play was getting a bit scrappy. Then, with only a few minutes to go, the forwards were pressing mightily on the right. Dragons left a huge overlap on the left which Jennings and Ford spotted to give Mike "Better Than An International Full Back" Haley one of the easiest tries he’ll ever score.

Ford converted, 38-5, game over and well won.

Official MotM was Josh, but Cameron Neild put in some immense work and was MotM for many spectators. Danny demonstrated why Eddie Jones doesn’t have a clue, and Stringer was just sublime. Well, actually, I didn’t think there was a bad performance out there and it shows what the team are capable of when things click.

Looking forward to Irish now, and Montpelier in the quarter final.