By RK
September 7 2005

A narrow win at home hopefully shook out some of the cobwebs and dislodged some rust (to mix a couple of metaphors). Round 2 sees the Sharks travelling to Kingsholme for a meeting with an old friend. RK foregoes his cherry-tart-and-cream pudding to look forward to an interesting match-up.

The now (in)famous Fun Bus hits the road this weekend; destination Kingsholm.

Yet for all the hype about it being an unforgiving venue and despite the vociferous ‘Shedheads’ in attendance, the ground is one of Sale’s happiest hunting grounds.

Only at Harlequins and London Irish have we won more than the five times we have recorded Premiership victories at the home of Gloucester…and winning on Saturday would take us level with the six triumphs we have had at Quins and Irish.

But after the 26-25 opening-night defeat of Newcastle, there is plenty of work to be done, particularly in a backline featuring both a new full-back – no matter how impressive he was on his debut – and centre partnership.

PSA admitted as much in the post-match press conference at EP, reckoning the lads had “won ugly” having made “nine or 10 silly mistakes” in a nerve-jangling match.

Yet Gloucester were far from impressive in their own opener as they played out a 15-15 draw with Worcester during which they relied on the deadly boot of Ludovic Mercier.

The early departure of captain Adam Balding certainly didn’t help matters but Worcester’s pack were at their dominant best, particularly at scrumtime, with Gloucester’s World Cup winner Phil Vickery – fit again after injury – spending much of the game shaking his head as decision after decision went against the Cherry and Whites. That must bode well for the Sharks pack, particularly with Sheri, Seb and Bear having put in such a strong early showing against the Falcons on Friday night.

Behind the pack Gloucester showed little, all too often resorting to 10-man rugby as Mercier pegged back the Worcester backs with kicks over the top.  

Things did improve when Haydn Thomas – rated highly by one Bryan Redpath – replaced the disappointing debutant Peter Richards at scrum-half and Gloucester executed what Dewi Morris described as their first backs move of the match. This with 70 minutes on the clock!

So both sides will have plenty to work on in training in the build-up to the match, and injuries could play a significant part in the destination of the points.

Of the Sale team that started against the Falcons only Daniel Larrechea and Richard Wigglesworth reported injury problems, but a sore hamstring and calf spasm respectively are unlikely to cause them to miss the game at Kingsholm, assuming them are called on.

The problem is, second guessing PSA’s team selections can be like sticking a pin in a telephone directory. He is currently juggling a squad of 32 players – the likes of Ben Coutts, Steve Hanley and Epi Taione did not even make the bench against Newcastle – and was not averse to making changes to winning teams throughout last season.

Indeed after last year’s opening-day 26-19 victory over Leicester, the Frenchman changed over half his team for the clash with Wasps the following week.

He refused to give too much away in the immediate aftermath of the Falcons game, merely saying he “might make a few changes” but with Hanley closer to full fitness after playing for the Jets in midweek, PSA certainly has options.

For Gloucester Balding is certain to miss out as he faces what could be as much as two months out with a TRIPLE fracture of the cheekbone. Ouch. Perhaps the most surprising aspect to an outsider of their opener, though, was the absence of Marcel Garvey who just two seasons ago was seen as one of the brightest prospects in the English game.

His absence – along with that of the injured James Simpson-Daniel – may have gone some way towards explaining Gloucester’s unwillingness to spread the ball wide, yet it appears, in lieu of any explanation to the contrary, he is simply out of favour.

If that is the case a return for our visit looks unlikely, although ‘Sinbad’ may shake off the minor knock that caused him to miss the Worcester game.

Whatever, the likelihood is that entertaining rugby will probably be at a premium at Kingsholm, making the basics absolutely vital.

That means our ball retention must improve after presenting the ball to the Falcons time and again on Friday (with Sea Bass doing so four times in contact). Gloucester had similar problems but we can’t rely on them not improving so must take strides ourselves.

The boot of Mercier will also be a factor and means discipline must be tight particularly in our own half. Yet we have plenty of weapons of our own, including Charlie’s boot.

So if we can get the basics right and step things up from the opening night, this is an eminently winnable game against a team I fully expect us to finish above in the table.

But as the ‘best of the rest’ behind Wasps and Leicester last season, we have set ourselves to be shot at and the likes of Mike Tindall, Patrice Collazo and Richards will want to impress on their first appearances in Cherry and White at Kingsholm.

Prediction: It’ll be close, and probably decided by a penalty in the last five minutes.