Newcastle punish Sale’s line-out failings
Sale threw away the chance of their first Premiership win of the season with a shambolic line-out display against Newcastle Falcons.
Hooker Cameron Neild had an evening that will give him nightmares as he missed his jumpers with five of his first six line-out throws and seven in the first half. In all, Sale lost 10 of their 24 line-outs.
Those lapses proved costly as all Sale managed for their first half dominance was a penalty from USA international AJ Macginty.
Newcastle soaked up the pressure and snatched victory with a penalty try, ironically awarded when Sale collapsed a driving lineout, nine minutes from time.
“We probably didn’t deserve to win purely through our own errors and lack of control of the game but, at the same time, when you get your chance you have to take it,” said Dean Richards, Newcastle’s director of rugby. “They had a couple of chances in the first half and didn’t take those, we had ours and took it.”
Neild’s performance was described as “unacceptable” by Steve Diamond, Sale’s director of rugby, but it was not the only reason for their defeat in a dire contest.
“We were poor. We didn’t finish well when we had the ball and for the first 30 minutes we couldn’t get the ball. We had various problems in all areas, not just the line-out,” Diamond said.
Although Neild played in the back row last season, he began his career as a hooker so a greasy ball and Newcastle’s disruptive work could not explain his difficulties.
Diamond substituted Neild at half-time but was forced to recall him when the experienced Marc Jones was sent to the sin-bin for taking down the maul that led to the penalty try. Predictably, Neild lost the first line-out after he returned.
Neild’s difficulties enabled Newcastle to cling on with some determined defending in the first half although they were stretched and under pressure at times.
Macginty kept nudging Sale in front with some accurate kicking but most of Sale’s slick handling – and the penetrative running of Faf de Klerk, their live-wire former South Africa scrum-half – led them up blind alleys.
Wing Byron Mcguigan also lost control of the ball as he attempted to plant it one-handed – a lapse Newcastle punished when they capitalised on their only try-scoring opportunity at the death.
A knock-on by full-back Mike Haley gave Newcastle the position from which they were able to put Sale under pressure and although the Falcons fouled up a line-out drive, they made no mistake when they were given a second chance a minute later and forced the home team to concede the penalty try.