By Keith Jenner
November 20 2004

It was a cold and frosty night in Stockport. The crowd was quite small (I have heard 4,000 mentioned which looked about right). How much that had to do with the weather, the lack of international players or the moving of the fixture I’m not sure.

I suspect that the biggest effect was the missing internationals, as Sale have a number of high profile players (especially Jason Robinson) and if casual supporters were considering going to one or two games in the season then it’s unlikely that they would have picked this game.

Moving the game back to its original Friday night from Sunday at short notice will certainly have had an effect on the visiting supporters and it was great to see and hear a small but noisy number of people who had made the effort to get to the game.

I will get my moan out of the way early and say that the moving of the game at such short notice was totally inexcusable. I’m not sure what the official reason for the change was, but it is about time that clubs stopped treating supporters (their customers remember) in this way. I am sure that some supporters (probably including Sale fans) will have suffered annoyance and financial loss due to this messing around with the fixture. It simply isn’t acceptable and surely the RFU should investigate these situations and if appropriate penalise the clubs in some way.

Anyway, back to the game itself. Beforehand I was quite confident that we could win the game, after our impressive display against Saracens last week and considering the fact that Sale were without a number of players due to the Autumn Internationals. I had a brief chat with Mark Evans a few minutes before kickoff and he agreed that the Sale team looked beatable but that it would be close. As I retook my seat my thoughts were that it was a game that we should win, but I wasn’t at all sure that we would.

Soon after the game started, Sale had a line out and tried to get a rolling maul going, but it failed to make any progress (Quins defended well against these mauls all through the game). The ball was given to the backs and they managed to take play into Quins half where they were awarded a penalty (I think it was for offside). They decided to take a shot at goal but the effort fell short of the posts.

With just 3 minutes gone, Steve So’oialo broke away from a ruck near the half way line and headed off down the left wing. For a moment it looked as if he would go all the way, but when the cover defence got to him, he passed inside to Simon Keogh who was backing up excellently as usual and had a clear run to the line. Staunton had no problems with the conversion almost in front of the posts and Quins were 7-0 ahead, much to the surprise of a large number of the home supporters who I believe were expecting an easy home win.

Sale had another penalty chance a few minutes later, following an infringement in the lineout. This one was from much closer, but was out to the left. It was successfully kicked though to make the score 7-3.

You will have to excuse the lack of detail for much of the remainder of the first half. My seat was positioned about 15m from the Sale try line and most of the play happened inside the Quins 22. For example, when Steve Hanley made a break and was heading for the Quins try line, I can’t tell you who it was that brought him down, or why the referee had a word with Tani Fuga, after consulting with the touchjudge. I do know that the penalty he awarded to Sale was for offside and that the kick was missed.

Following this, Sebastien Chabal (who would probably get my vote for man of the match) made the first of his charges at the Quins defence. All night it took a few men to stop him and he always looked dangerous with the ball. I just hope that hairy South Africans prove to be as effective as hairy Frenchmen. It is no wonder that Chabal has become a firm favourite at Edgeley Road.

There the followed a period of open play with neither side getting much advantage until Sale were penalised for offside just inside their half. I was quite surprised when Staunton lined up the kick from about 45m, but it sailed through the posts to take Quins lead back up to 7 points.

The next 15 minutes or so consisted of intense pressure from Sale, with some excellent Quins defence which was let down by poor scrummaging when we had managed to regain possession. As explained, it all happened a long way from me but this is what happened as far as I could tell.

It started with a Sale rolling maul which was brought down by Quins 40m out. The resulting penalty was kicked into the corner. From the line out another penalty was awarded and Andre Vos was dispatched to the sin-bin.

Sale went for the lineout again and the maul which they formed was pushed back by the Quins pack. The pressure was kept up for over a minute but Sale couldn’t cross the line. Eventually Quins were awarded a scrum.

The pressure wasn’t relieved though, as Sale disrupted the Quins scrum and were awarded a penalty. Once again, they kicked to the corner and were unable to cross the line. Another penalty was awarded and again they kicked to the corner.

This time, after once more failing to get the ball across the line with the forwards they let it go to the backs who managed to drop the ball. Quins players were pouncing and it looked as if a breakaway score was on the cards when play was brought back again for a penalty. This time Jeremy Staunton was sin-binned. I wasn’t sure at the time what it was for, but have since learned that he was penalised for offside. Apparently he claimed that he was behind the try line (and therefore not offside), but I can’t say whether that was the case or not.

So Quins were down to 13 men and it looked like just a matter of time before Sale finally broke through. I was surprised that the referee hadn’t gone for a penalty try by this point (just based on the number of penalties he had awarded). 

Another kick to the corner and line out, but still Sale couldn’t get the ball over the line. They tried using the backs again but still couldn’t get through and were awarded a scrum. They tried a grubber kick to get behind the Quins defence but it was gathered by George Harder. The clearance kick didn’t find touch and Sale returned the ball to Quins 22.

By this time Andre Vos was warming up again and it started to look as though we may get through the period with just 13 men without conceding a score. Quins secured the lineout and set up a rolling maul which slowly moved out of the danger area. By the time Sale regained possession they were in their half but their full back Chris Mayor broke through and looked to be on his way to score when Simon Keogh caught him from behind. He lost the ball forward and the Quins contingent breathed a sign of relief.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy. Quins scrum once again struggled and Sale took it against the head. The two man advantage showed with a large overlap on the left and despite the ball almost being dropped at one point, Sale could hardly fail to score. It was the last play before Vos returned to the field.

I think that this was the key point in the game. Down to 13 men, Quins could have conceded a couple of tries, which it would have been difficult to come back from. We almost got through it without Sale scoring anything and if that had been the case then I think we would have gone on to win comfortably. Overall we did better than could be expected and I think that the victory which we achieved was down to this period more than any other thing.

Vos was back on and the scores were tied at 10 all. We soon got a rolling maul going which took play to the Sale 22 and a penalty was awarded to Quins. With no Staunton, Tom Williams kicked into the corner and it was Quins turn to be unable to push over from close range. The ball was lost forward and Sale cleared to the 22.

The lineout was lost and the ball was kicked long to Simon Keogh who ran behind a number of Quins players as he made a break towards the right. His pass found George Harder but play was called back for crossing which seemed rather harsh, as there didn’t appear to be any intentional obstruction going on.

Another charge by Chabal was halted by Andre Vos who took some time to get up and looked quite shaky for a while.

Inside injury time, another Quins rolling maul was stopped illegally about 40 metres out and Staunton once again kicked the points meaning that Quins went into half time 13-10 up. This was certainly against the run of possession and pressure during the half.

Overall, the second half was not very eventful. Quins increased their lead to 6 points after being awarded a penalty from a lineout on the Sale 22 which was well kicked by Staunton. Sale had a chance to pull back when they had a penalty on half way, but it went short and wide.

Once again Sale had a lot of possession, but they were struggling to make any progress. At one point they had the ball for a couple of minutes just outside the Quins 22 but couldn’t make their way inside it and the possession ended with a knock on. 

Almost half way through the second half, Sale closed the gap to 3 points once again with a penalty from 35m in front of the posts following another Quins offside.

A few minutes later Quins had an excellent opportunity to pull further ahead when George Harder made a break down the right wing and almost reached the try line before being tackled. The ball went wide to Mike Worsley who appeared to dive over for the try. No score was awarded and Worsley got back to his feet before losing the ball forwards. At the press conference this was explained. Apparently Worsley dived at the 5m line in error. Mark Evans didn’t appear overly impressed with the situation.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes another Quins rolling maul pushed Sale to within 5m of their line but they were unable to reach the line. The ball went back to Staunton for a drop goal attempt, but he was closed down quickly and eventually a penalty was awarded to Sale.

Ugo Monye came on to replace Steve So’oailo, with Simon Keogh moving to scrum half. Almost immediately Monye had an opportunity when the ball came to him inside the Quins 22 after being knocked on by Sale. He kicked forward and appeared to be tackled late but the referee let play continue.

Inside the final 5 minutes, George Harder made an interception and passed to Dafydd James who was tackled near the Sale line. A penalty was awarded and a Sale player was sent to the sin-bin (I assume for slowing the ball, but once again it was a long was from us). Staunton made the penalty from out wide to take the score to 19-13.

Sale were soon awarded a penalty just inside the Quins half which they kicked to just outside the 22. Quins won the lineout and the ball was cleared. Monye chased the kick and managed to get to it first but he was unable to take it. Had he done so he would probably have had a clear run to the line. He had another half chance shortly afterwards when Tom Williams kicked towards the corner, but again Monye was unable to collect the ball (he had to slide to get to it) and knocked on.

In the dying seconds, Dafydd James intercepted a pass and looked to have scored but Quins were penalised for offside. Sale were stuck in their 22 though and the fact that they weren’t kicking the ball suggested that time was up. That proved to be the case because when they lost the ball the referee blew for full time.

This was a game that could have gone either way. Reading back through my notes it appears that most of the chances in the second half were from Quins and with some slightly better finishing we could have secured the match earlier on. However, it should also be noted that Staunton got all of his kicks whereas Sale missed a number of theirs.

I thought that the two half backs played very well and considering the criticism that they have had, they have made great improvements over the last few games. The pack looked good again and certainly had the better of the mauls. The scrum wasn’t too solid at times and, whilst our lineouts went well we didn’t manage to put much pressure on the Sale throws (I must say that I thought Johnny Roddam had an excellent game against his old club). The backs looked dangerous at times. 

There was something slightly disappointing though. As a team things just didn’t seem to click like they could do. Individually, players did well, but the team effort was just adequate. In the end the match was won by guts more than skill, but who cares as long as it was won.

In the press conference, Mark Evans was surprisingly downbeat. He didn’t think it was much of a game and he was disappointed with how we played. He was concerned about the high penalty count and I don’t think that referee, Wayne Barnes, has gone up in his estimation. Some things had to be changed at half time to allow for the referees decisions.

Evans said he always felt that we would start winning and I think that this explains his attitude at the conference. This wasn’t a man who was just relieved to have got another win. I feel that he always believed that we would win a few games and was able to feel disappointed at the performance despite a much needed win being achieved. This says a lot for the teams confidence and makes me feel good for the upcoming games.

Philipe St Andre was obviously disappointed and, as would be expected pointed out the number of players who Sale had missing. He too was rather critical of the ref and felt that Quins weren’t penalised enough for pulling down mauls. He felt that Staunton controlled the game well, but overall felt that Sale could have won the match.

So things are certainly looking better for Quins, but things are still close at the bottom of the Premiership, especially after Worcester beat Northampton on Saturday. Another win next weekend is essential or we could find ourselves at the bottom of the pile again as the premiership takes another break.