By PoyntonShark
March 17 2004

So, Mr Squeaky, we meet again! Sale Sharks booked their place at Twickenham, with a return to the Sale style; slick handling and plenty of pace proved too much for Leeds Tykes, despite their creditable second half fight back.

With Charlie Hodgson on the mend, Mike Hercus showed that he too can orchestrate a performance from one of the deadliest back lines around. Sale seem to have shrugged off the slow starters tag and, as in the quarter final, were ‘up for it’ from the first whistle. After brief initial exchanges - and a little game of kick tennis - a Tyke on the wrong side of a maul saw Hercus put Sale into the Leeds half. Sale caught and drove the resulting line-out; Bond made an initial attempt to break the line but was well tackled. The ruck was quick; Matt Cairns at scrum-half sent a pass which had Hercus stretching above his head to retirieve, but then a neat sidestep inside and an inside pass saw Jason Robinson dance past 3 defenders to score under the posts. Sharks 5–0 up in the 6^th minute, Hercus added the conversion (7-0).

We looked set for a see-saw afternoon when 3 minutes later Gordon Ross converted a penalty (7-3). Thankfully, from a Sale perspective, this proved to be a rare foray into the attacking half for the Tykes. Sale began to look like the team of last season, getting the ball wide at every opportunity, leading to a 12^th minute break by Hercus and a well timed, lobbed miss pass to flying winger Iain Fullarton who, from 10 yards out, had too much weight to be shoved into touch by a last ditch tackle from Leeds scrum-half Allan Dickens and scored in the corner (12-3). Hercus scuffed the conversion badly.

Leeds were struggling to get out of their own half, not helped by the fact that, with an England place beckoning, Mark Regan seemed to have caught Steve Thompson’s dose of the yipps. Sale had two further penalty chances to extend their lead but Hercus was not on top kicking form. Just before the half hour Leeds did manage to gain a little territory in the Sale half and Ross once again converted a penalty after Sale came in the side of a ruck (12-6). Shortly after the restart Leeds were penalised for holding on the tackle and Hercus converted the simple penalty (15-6).

Sale were by now definitely ‘in the mood’ and Leeds found it difficult to come by possession, let alone territory. Sale continued to make ground; a Mark Cueto break saw a link up with Mike Hercus and then Jos Baxendell, whose sleight of hand almost put Jones away but for determined defence. Leeds were, however, too keen at this breakdown and were caught offside. Hercus again converted the penalty (18-6). Nearing the half time whistle as Leeds restarted, Sale secured ball and Hercus sent a long kick to touch. The kick wasn’t going to make touch but Leeds fullback Matt Cardy and a flanker Colm Rigney managed to contrive a fumble and the ball found touch just 5 yards from the Leeds line.

Sale once again secured the lineout and attempted to drive for the line but the Leeds pack proved resolute - change of plan: the ball was released, two long miss passes, and Steve Hanley completed a miserable couple of minutes for Matt Cardy by easily brushing his tackle aside and, diving to beat an attempted tackle by Dan Scarborough, he scored in the corner (23-6). Hercus found his kicking touch again and converted from out wide, ensuring that Sale went in at half time with a 25-6 lead. I am indebted to the BBC for providing a statistic which perhaps best illustrates Sale’s dominance of the first half: Ball won in opposition 22 – Sale 19, Leeds 0.

The second half started in similar vein, with Sale looking to move the ball, but shortly into the half came the day’s most controversial moment. Leeds were on the attack and for once making gains into Sale territory. Bond came across to tackle Scarborough. After making the tackle Bond immediately got to his feet and attempted to relieve Scarborough of the ball. The Leeds lock Stuart Hooper came in at pace and drove Bond off the ball; unfortunately Bond’s head was trapped under Hooper’s chest. They both fell to ground with Bond’s head still trapped; he appeared to flex his neck. Hooper got to his feet, but Bond lay motionless on his back. Play continued for what seemed like an age, probably in reality was only 26 seconds, but in such circumstances it is no exaggeration to say that such a delay could be the difference. In referee Dave Pearson’s defence, he had his back to Bond for most of this time; in my view the culprit of the piece was the touch judge - the Vernon stand, indeed half the ground, was screaming for someone to take some action but play didn’t stop until it had got dangerously close to where Bond lay and Pearson noticed he hadn’t moved. There did appear to be technical difficulties with Mr Pearson’s ear piece, so no actual blame may need to be apportioned - I suspect that we shall never find out. Bond was stretchered from the pitch straight to hospital. Later reports have confirmed that the injury was not as bad as first appeared and may have been a hyper extension of the spine. Graeme is due to see the Sale team doctor today (Monday 15 March). Chris Mayor came on as a replacement for Bond.

The Leeds defence seemed more resolute for the second half, with Sale breaking the line on far fewer occasions; the outstanding exception being a typically mesmerising 60 yard run from Jason Robinson, returning a Matt Cardy clearance from just outside his own 22 metre line to well within the Leeds 22. On reflection he may feel he should have been more greedy and taken on Leeds’ last defender, but he chose to pass. Unfortunately the pass was a bad one and bounced harmlessly into touch in front of Mark Cueto.

The usual flush of substitutions occurred during the second half, which seemed to unsettle Sale’s rhythm and Leeds, already performing much better than in the first half, took full advantage. After a spell of Leeds pressure they were awarded a penalty when the Sale backs encroached on the offside line. The 3 points would have been easy but with only 24 minutes on the clock and a 19 point deficit,  Leeds opted for the Scrum. Sale resisted the initial pressure and survived a scare when Ross chipped over the top and Scarborough was favourite to win the race to touch down. There is a possibility that Hanley pushed Scarborough, though I think Hanley’s reaction was instinctive as Sacrborough cut across him. There was certainly contact, but not a deliberate shove. The result was that Scarborough knocked on over the line. Sale never properly relieved the pressure and Leeds soon regained possession; some good handling from the backs enabled Dan Scarborough to show his pace for the first time - he beat Steve Hanley too easily for my liking - yet after crossing the line seemed strangely disinclined to ground the ball and attempted to beat Mike Hercus, presumably in an effort to make the conversion easier. Hercus was having none of it, but Scarborough still managed to ground the ball (25-11). Scarborough need not have worried so, as Ross scored the conversion from out wide (25-13).

Sale soon recouped some of these points. After a good lineout take from the newly introduced Dean Schofield, the Sale pack drove down their left, Leeds were drawn offside and, whilst advantage was being played, Mike Hercus took the opportunity for a free drop at goal (28-13). To their great credit Leeds refused to lie down and once again exerted pressure on the Sale line. For some reason Sale appeared to be missing the earlier urgency in their defence and Leeds held together a large number of phases, culminating in Scarborough, this time cropping up in the centre, aiming a well placed grubber kick through the Sale defence, which he collected himself and crossed for his second try (28-18). The impressive Ross once again converted (28-20). Despite the new closeness in the score Sale never really appeared to be in danger of losing this tie and finally sealed the victory in injury time. Mike Hercus sent up a high up and under; Diego Albanese was poised to collect under the posts, but he appeared to be put off by the approaching footsteps of Chris Jones. Albanese dropped the ball and Jones was quick to recover it. The supporting Sale forwards were not far behind and quickly secured the ruck. The ball was released and good handling from Alex Sanderson and Mark Cueto sent Chris Mayor over to confirm Sale’s trip to Twickenham, 33-20. Mike Hercus hit the post with the conversion. Hercus had one further opportunity to extend Sale’s lead, when Leeds were penalised for a hand in the ruck, but not for the first time Hercus’ aim was off and he pulled the kick left. 

Without doubt Sale’s most complete home performance of the season and second only to the performance in Dublin. For once, not everyone is talking about how well the pack did, though they did perform to their usual high standards. On this day the backs were their equals and quite rightly took the plaudits.

Sale now have a date at Twickenham on April 17^th against Rob Andrew’s Newcastle Falcons. I wonder if the nice Messers Smith and Cotton can be persuaded to make some Red and Black jerseys?

Sale 33 – Leeds 20

Sale:

    Tries - Robinson, Fullarton, Hanley, Mayor

    Conv - Hercus 2

    DG - Hercus

    Pen - Hercus 2

Leeds:

    Tries - Scarborough 2

    Conv - Ross 2

    Pen - Ross 2

    M.O.M – Mike Hercus