Sharks find killer instinct to remain in the hunt
SALE produced their best performance of the season to illustrate the competitiveness of the Premiership as they hammered thirdplaced Gloucester.
It was their first away win of the season and their first at Kingsholm since 2013 but it was every bit as convincing as the scoreline suggests as their intense ferocity rattled Gloucester to the core.
Sale’s DoR Steve Diamond said: “It’s great that the league is so competitive and the owners have done a great job in making it so.
“In a number of previous years, one of the clubs has been obliterated by Christmas but that’s not the case this season.”
Rarely have Gloucester been so inept. After the first quarter their game fell apart and the Sale pack assumed total control.
Behind the scrum, Sale were a country mile ahead of their opponents with Faf de Klerk and Rob du Preez running the show to enable Chris Ashton, Byron McGuigan and James O’Connor easily to break the defence.
Diamond said: “We have a backline which is electric and takes some holding when they are on song. Chris (Ashton) has been a massive addition and he provides great control for us at the back.”
Gloucester had the better of the opening quarter to deservedly build a ten-point lead. Billy Twelvetrees knocked over a simple penalty before a flowing move culminated in Jaco Visagie out-flanking the cover to score.
At that stage Sale were struggling to gain a foothold with the concession of regular penalties not helping, but from nowhere they conjured up an excellent try.
McGuigan expertly claimed a high ball to power away down the left wing before a neat round of well-timed passing ended with Ashton crashing over on the opposite flank.
The score galvanised Sale to such an extent that they were able to dominate the second quarter with a further ten points to lead 17-10 at the interval.
First the hosts lost a lineout in their own half and Ashton broke through before feeding O’Connor who sent De Klerk over. Du-Preez converted and kicked a penalty after Josh Beaumont had nicked another Gloucester throw, forcing them to infringe.
Five minutes after the restart, Sale suffered a blow when De Klerk was sin-binned for a deliberate knock on, but simultaneously Gloucester received a setback when Jaco Kriel limped off with a leg injury.
Gareth Evans replaced him in time to see fellow flanker Lewis Ludlow sinbinned for an off-side in the red zone with Du Preez kicking the penalty.
The visitors were dominant and when Tom Curry won a penalty for not releasing, Du Preez secured a superb touch from where Rob Webber finished off a driving line-out.
De Klerk and Ludlow returned before Sale sealed victory with their bonus point try. Twelvetrees lost possession in a thumping tackle from De Klerk and the ball was recycled for Denny Solomona to cross.
Game over for Gloucester with Matt Banahan’s late effort a mere consolation for the out-gunned hosts.