By Whaley Shark
February 19 2006

So, top plays bottom on a cool evening with just a hint of Spring, perfect for running rugby. This is surely a routine 5 points for Sale Sharks and a chance to put Wasps under further pressure. But that’s not quite how it turned out. The Whaley Shark writes from his bed in the coronary care unit.

I almost didn’t see the first try- the woman in the smart, beige coat had rather spoiled her pretence of sophistication by drinking most of the pint glass of wine she was clutching. Maybe if she hadn’t, she’d have been able to work out where her seat was and then I, and about a dozen people around me, would have seen the kick off. Fortunately, she slumped into her seat, or fell off her fancy heels, or something, just in time for us to see Leeds regain possession on the left from their kick off, kick high towards the posts and Nathan Thomas, their Number 8, touch down as the Sale defence fumbled. 5-0 down in less than a minute- is that really in the game plan? The conversion is good. Sale, obviously shaken, struggle and, with Leeds’ confidence high, almost all of the first 15 minutes is played in the Sale half, although the only further scores are an exchange of penalties. Sale then start to get into the game but still don’t look sharp and, in a series of attacks, including two penalties kicked to the left corner, Valentin Courrent is hurt. Charlie Hodgson replaces him at the 20 minute mark.

Things start to go a bit better. From a quick ball off the top of a lineout, Oriol Ripol makes a lovely break only to be called back for a knock on. The Sharks string several phases together in the Leeds 22, with precise, short passing and a couple of good mauls. Eventually Leeds concede a penalty, bringing their lead down to four points after 30 minutes. The last ten minutes of the half are more like it- Magnus charging up the pitch, dribbling the ball, a break from Steve Hanley after some quick handling, a brawl among the forwards and strong runs from Mark Taylor and Chris Mayor, on as a blood replacement for Oriol Ripol. While none of this quite works, even when Leeds have a player binned for taking out a line-out jumper in the air, at least Sale are putting Leeds under pressure. And so to half time, 10-6 down.

The second half starts scrappily- slicing kicks, knocking on and handling moves that go backwards due to some aggressive Leeds defending. Charlie kicks another penalty. Leeds come back with three phases of possession, moving the ball wide and winning a penalty which is taken quickly and kicked across the field for Tom Biggs, their flying left wing. Cuets just slows him up enough for the cover defence to stop him. Sale win possession and, after a good scrum, a handling move finally comes together. Chris Mayor, on for Robert Todd now, cuts back inside and scores under the posts. With the conversion, this is 16-10 to Sale and things are looking better. The next ten minutes is inconclusive and the scrums appear to have degenerated into a gruesome form of trench warfare. Then Leeds have a spell of pressure and, after some slick handling, Gordon Ross scores a try, which he also converts. 17-16 to Leeds and almost 25 minutes still to play.

Sale make a series of substitutions over the next five minutes- Wiggy for Martens, Bonner-Evans for Lobbe and Bruno for Titterell. Mark Taylor makes a half break but Sale lose possession and Leeds kick the ball through the Sale defence. Tom Biggs takes the bouncing ball at speed and scores a well deserved try on the left. With the conversion, Sale are 24-16 down after 70 minutes. The wise man who sits next to me says “We’re going to lose this”, I agree and add that Leeds probably fancy a 4-try bonus point. These are not to be the world’s best ever predictions. Sale come back at Leeds and, after slick handling, the supporting Magnus Lund crosses in the right hand corner. The conversion is missed but, 24-21 down and with 7 minutes to go, Sale obviously think they can win the match. Charlie passes to Mark Cueto on his own goal line, Cuets runs the ball back at Leeds and, exchanging passes with Steve Hanley and Chris Mayor, Sale go the length of the field to put Chris Mayor in on the left. The crowd are going absolutely nuts as Charlie converts and Sale have a 28-24 lead after two tries in three minutes. The forwards want to demonstrate their handling skills now. From a scrum, Lund feeds Chabal, who times his pass perfectly, sending Wiggy over almost under the posts. Charlie converts and at 35-24 with three minutes left, surely it’s just a matter of playing out time- bad prediction number two! Leeds have a real go, Ripol almost intercepts, Leeds have another go, the crowd counts down the last ten seconds, Cuets hacks the ball upfield and chases it deep into the Leeds half, Leeds recover, attack yet again but then concede a penalty at the breakdown. Finally, Charlie kicks for touch and the game is over.

So what did I make of this one? On this performance, Leeds shouldn’t be bottom and they certainly deserved something from the game. I wish them luck for the rest of the season. They have a solid defence and creative attack, and I really, really hope they survive. They matched Sale better than many teams so far this season. The Sharks only clicked at the end but that last ten minutes alone was worth the cost of my season ticket- it was right back to swashbuckling, creative play that had the whole crowd awestruck. I suspect PSA will still feel we are 30% short of our best though- the kicking from hand often didn’t seem too smart, just allowing Leeds to run the ball back, and we did lose a lot of possession. The lineout went pretty well, with some lovely quick ball off the top from Chabal. Mark Taylor made good progress in attack and was solid in defence. Oriol Ripol defended well and made some good breaks. I don’t know who the official man of the match was, but I’d go for Mark Taylor, just ahead of Ripol and with Magnus there or thereabouts as well.