By Pronters and CE
December 6 2004

Another French outing for Sale and a hardy band of supporters (who seem to have bottomless pockets and no jobs). Sale beat Narbonne on the way to their PP victory a couple of years back - could they do it again? Prontashark and CheadleEnder were there.

by Prontashark

The stadium complex is magnificent and a hardy bunch of about forty of us in total turned up on a chilly, breezy, but very pleasant evening. A surprisingly poor crowd of about 3,000 I would guess. We were down on the goal line on one side of the pitch but because of the running track we were some distance from the action at the far end. The packs looked fairly equal in size and weight from my distance. We were on the back foot for the first few minutes and their backs looked pretty dangerous with the ball in hand. Not much in it when John Carter flattened one of their blokes whilst in the air from a restart. From about 80 metres away even the most one-eyed amongst us could not argue with a ten minute rest. Needless to say RCNM upped the tempo and scored out on the right wing and got a penalty as well. Not long after Carter came back they scored again on the left wing in front of us and our right side defence was looking a bit porous for my liking. At 15-3 down after twenty minutes or so optimism was not overly rife amongst the Sale fans and it could well have been worse when they managed to blow a three on one--it might even have been a four on one--which would have made it 22-3. It's a long way back from there. Charlie (who kicked excellently all night) got one penalty to make it 15-6 and was not given another, which most of us thought had gone over. That said, it was about 100 metres away from us but we were right in line!

The game changed when two things seemed to happen more or less at the same time. Our front five seemed to suddenly get the upper hand and John Carter absolutely flattened (legally) one of their backs and the ball went up into grateful hands of Stan who ran in from halfway. The conversion made it 15-13 and another Charlie penalty let us take a somewhat unlikely one point lead at half time.

Only one team in it in the second half. The pack was now dominant and the supporters were now feeling much more confident of victory despite it still being a one pointer. Basil came off for what we now know is a serious injury but it was impossible to ascertain what happened from our distance. He told me after the game that he twisted in a tackle and landed on Andrew Sheridan's knee. It looked immensely painful when we were talking to him and what a hero he stayed and chatted amicably to all the supporters for literally hours at the hotel after the game.

The next try came when Charlie (I am fairly sure) charged down a clearing kick, the ball went right up in the air and Sebastien Bruno caught it and touched it down all inbetween the try and dead ball line right in front of us. For the life of me I cannot remember whether, what will go into the annals of Sale history as Jason's drop goal, was before or after this try but the score was now 26-15. For the purist Jason was about thirty or so metres back more or less in front of the posts and it went through straight as a die. If he has scored another for Sale I certainly haven't seen it [It was against Wasps - Ed].

It was our turn to blow a three on one overlap near the line next and the final act was Andy Sheridan carrying a couple of their blokes over the line from a few metres out, Charlie converted and we won 33-18. This seemed a highly unlikely outcome after twenty minutes and the final fifty minutes of the game produced some of our best rugby for some time in my opinion.

Despite his sin binning the general opinion was that John Carter was man of the match and he certainly played and tackled very well. If it was not him then I would give it to the whole front row who all played superbly.

As luck would have it were were in the same hotel as the players and it was the icing on the cake for those of us who made the journey to have a chat to several of the players after the game.

All in all a grand weekend away.

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From sinner to saint in 90 minutes by CheadleEnder

John Carter’s binning in the seventh minute of the game cost Sale Sharks ten points and left travelling fans with the same feelings of despair they endured in the games against Bath, Harlequins and Gloucester.

Narbonne started the game strongly. Their ability to off-load out of the tackle and to play at pace appeared to be giving the Sale defence some early problems. Several players missed tackles and, when Carter was binned, Narbonne were able to exploit the gaps that appeared.

At fifteen points to nil down the game appeared to be getting away from the Sharks. However, Charlie Hodgson’s successful penalty kick on seventeen minutes seemed to steady the team.

John Carter returned from the sin-bin determined to redeem his earlier error. It was Carter who set up the defining moment of the game. A mighty tackle left his opponent dazed on the floor, dislodged the ball and gave Steve Hanley a clear run to the line for Sale’s first try. Hanley gave team mate Hodgson the easiest of conversions and suddenly Sale were only two points adrift.

With a minute to go to half-time Narbonne infringed again and Charlie Hodgson was able to send the team into the break with a one point lead and the fans into the beer tent for something to calm the nerves.

Seven minutes into the second half Philippe Saint-Andre brought Pierre Caillet on for Andy Titterrell and Jos Baxendell replaced Josh Taumololo. Two minutes later, Charlie Hodgson fired a long kick to the corner to set up an excellent attacking position for the Sharks. Narbonne won the lineout but the subsequent clearance kick was charged down. Sebastien Bruno was first to the loose ball and was able to ground it to give Sale the try.

Unfortunately Redpath and Sheridan clashed heads which resulted in a facial injury which will see Bryan sidelined for up to twelve weeks. He was replaced by Sililo Martens.

A series of handling errors suggested that Narbonne were now starting to chase the game, but it was a mistake in the midfield which gave them their best attacking opportunity in the second half. Charlie Hodgson, with little space to work in, seemed to suffer a rare moment of indecision and the ball went loose. However, the Sharks defence, which had looked a little shaky in the first half, held firm. Narbonne recycled well but eventually knocked the ball on and handed the advantage back to Sale.

Stuart Turner replaced Barry Stewart, Pete Anglesea came on for Dean Schofield.

Mark Cueto slipped through several tackles only to be brought down short of the line, but minutes later Andrew Sheridan powered over for Sale’s third try. Charlie Hodgson put over his last three points of the game to bring his tally to 15. He was replaced by Mike Hercus with six minutes still to be played.

Narbonne fought on to the very end and were almost rewarded with a last minute consolation try. However, the Sharks defence held on and Steve Hanley’s last ditch tackle put the player into touch and the referee blew for time.

Charlie Hodgson had an excellent game and was given this reporter’s man of the match award. However John Carter’s redemption proved so successful the he was given the official ERC Man of the Match award.