Bristol applied the early pressure in the disjointed opening exchanges, not helped by the strong, gusty, wind and the constant fine rain. Sale , however, gave away the first clear scoring chance when new fly-half David Hill spotted a gap in the defence, made some ground and offloaded to Rob Higgitt. Higgitt was tackled high and Bristol sensibly went for the points from directly in front of the posts with nine minutes played. Hill made a complete mess of the kick and there were murmurings about how Jason Strange would have kicked it, although he would very likely not have made the initially break in the first place!

Sale went on to take the lead just five minutes later when, after winning a lineout on the Bristol throw, the ball was quickly out to Larrechea who was in position to take the drop goal, which he duly did. 0 – 3 to Sale . The strong wind was clearly in Sale ’s favour and they applied the old rugby maxim of territory and possession. Larrechea was wide with another drop goal attempt a few minutes later, but sustained pressure brought its reward as Larrechea took Sale to a 0 – 6 lead with a well taken 30 metre penalty. Bristol , though defending well, now had the rare opportunity to work their way into the Sale half and Hill was able to settle his kicking nerves with a good penalty kick from about 25 metres; 3 – 6 with nearly half an hour gone.

Bristol kicked into Sale territory and David Lemi, following up, charged down Jason Robinson’s attempted clearance. As Lemi attempted to seize the loose ball Robinson, forced to turn, blocked and held back the Bristol winger and then fell onto the ball, failed to get his feet and then held on to the ball as Lemi strove to wrench it free. After Bristol failed to make anything of the advantage given by the referee, Robinson was treated to a long lecture, but not the thoroughly deserved yellow card. From the resultant penalty Hill levelled the scores and Robinson was treated to a subsequent chorus of boos whenever he touched the ball. I suppose you can’t boo the referee every time he makes a decision, but this was a particularly weak display from the referee and I can’t help but think it was because it was Jason Robinson that the card wasn’t brandished. If it had been, say, Garath Archer I think the result might have been different.

Sale were reduced to 14 when Chris Jones was sin-binned for pulling down a maul after Sale had conceded penalties and territory as the Bristol forwards drove again and again into the Sale defence. However, with the half drawing to a close Bristol were unable to pummel their way over the line. 6 all at half time.

Bristol started the second half in similar vein, the main difference being that the wind was now in their favour and that the rain was noticeably heavier. Sale were seemingly content to concede penalties as they endeavoured to prevent a Bristol try. Initially they gave a penalty chance as the Bristol pack underlined their ascendancy at the scrum and Hill nosed Bristol in front at 9 – 6 after nearly 50 minutes of play. Then, after good work from inexplicably-unselected-by-England Dan Ward-Smith, they once again gave the penalty rather than the try and Hill was able to take the straightforward chance and make it 12 – 6 just 6 minutes later.

Sale attempted to ease the pressure by more legal means, and it was Bristol ’s turn to give away a penalty. Surprisingly, they elected to kick for the posts but Larrechea sliced his 40-metre attempt well wide. Given the strong wind, long range penalties from Sale were an unlikely tactic, but one in which they persisted. Only after Bristol had yet another penalty after more good work from the forwards had been negated by illegal measures and swiftly punished by Hill’s kick, giving Bristol a deserved 15 – 6 lead with some 15 minutes left to play. The score was close enough that Sale had hope of at least the losing bonus point and they continued to seek a way back into the game.

Bristol again conceded a penalty at some distance, and again Larrechea was wide with the attempt into the wind. He was not to be denied a third time though. Bristol gave away yet another penalty, when Alfie To’oala failed to use his arms when ‘tackling’ (just how surprising is that?), and Larrechea showed that practice does indeed make perfect by narrowing the gap to 15 – 9. With ten minutes of play the Bristol side steadied themselves and although never threatening the Sale line ensured that their opponents were well contained and had no opportunity to further reduce the arrears. With the countdown clock on zero the Bristol scrum half, seemingly unaware of the time, failed to quickly kick to touch and looked around for options before being brought to his senses, picking up and running over the touchline for the whistle to signal full time.