Sale sink Gloucester to keep pressure on
Sale were smarter, sharper and deserved winners in grim weather here last night, but they had to cope with a dogged comeback from Gloucester in order to move four points behind Exeter Chiefs at the top of the table.
A high penalty count plus critical errors under the high ball and in their own half hindered Gloucester, who have lost their last five matches.
All of the Gloucester players had Be Kind on the back of their shirts where their names would normally go, reinforcing the Gloucester’s campaign this week to support mental health. The club deserve immense credit for championing such an important cause.
Sale, meanwhile, are flying. They were well marshalled here by their half-backs, Will Cliff and Robert du Preez, and their pack thrived in the conditions, with Jono Ross and Daniel du Preez supplying 30 tackles between them.
“We’re delighted. It’s a difficult place to come. There is no altitude sickness, we will definitely not be getting carried away,” explained Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond, adding that Sale are close to announcing three signings, two forwards and a back, in the next week or two.
“We got a good hiding two weeks ago at Saracens in similar conditions. I think we thought we were Real Madrid going into that game and we got put on our backsides. We had a good chat about it, because we are a good team.”
The contest itself was more of a triple threat match – Gloucester versus Sale versus persistent rain. Sale’s pack squeezed penalties out of Gloucester early on and they were finally rewarded after 27 minutes, Robert du Preez knocking over a penalty for 3-0. Billy Twelve
trees almost tied things up, a longrange effort with the breeze at his back hitting the crossbar, before the game’s first try.
A grubber from Robert du Preez sparked chaos, the ball ballooning up into the air before slipping out of three pairs of Gloucester hands. Byron Mcguigan hacked on, with Sale centre Luke James winning the race to slide over to score.
The try might not have been majestic but Robert du Preez’s touchline conversion certainly was, giving Sale a 10-0 lead heading into half-time. Bryn Evans soon added to that advantage after the break, finishing off a rolling maul.
Twelvetrees cut the deficit with a penalty before Gloucester finally came to life with a surging maul in Sale’s 22, waking up the crowd and leading to a yellow card for Sale’s Willgriff John. A repeat of the maul led to Fraser Balmain driving low and over, with Sale’s lead disappearing.
But then Gloucester imploded. A brilliant strip tackle by Sam James on Danny Cipriani sent the ball loose, with Marland Yarde on hand to pick up, spin and sprint clear for Sale’s third try.
What followed was the funniest assist of the season, a Cipriani pass clattering off Matt Banahan’s head and flying forward over the line, with Twelvetrees sprinting after it to tap down and make it 17-20.
Sale should have then had the bonus point, only for Simon Hammersley’s pass looking for Yarde to end up in The Shed. But a second Robert du Preez penalty gave the visitors some breathing room. They needed every bit of it, as Gloucester hammered on the door late on but Sale held firm for victory.
Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann said: “We always stay in the fight and always give ourselves a chance to win the game. But it’s consistency. The game is getting away from us in the first half and then we have to chase it.”
Rugby results and tables, P20