Even four yellows can’t bend Sale steel
SALE SHARKS had four men sin-binned in the second half of this dramatic encounter yet still ended up winning by a single point.
The crucial score came from captain Josh Beaumont who was pushed over by 11 his teammates in the 78th minute followed by a touchline conversion from fly-half Robert du Preez.
Up until that point, Sale had done their best to throw away an interval lead of 13-10 by having four players carded.
Full-back Luke James and hooker Akker van der Merwe got ten minutes for high tackles to be followed by wing Byron McGuigan and substitute back AJ MacGinty falling foul of referee Christophe Ridley for deliberate knock-ons.
The infringements allowed Jimmy Gopperth to kick three penalty goals to put Wasps 19-13 ahead with ten minutes to go.
However, the crucial yellow card proved to be one for Wasps when substitute hooker Gabriel Oghre was penalised for collapsing a maul just before Beaumont was pushed over.
“Unbelievable,” was the immediate post-match reaction of Sale boss Alex Sanderson. He thought his team had thrown the match away through those cards but added: “It was grit, the northern grit and South African steel which got us through.”
Sanderson’s starting team of seven South Africans had looked to be stronger thanks to their big men in the first half.
Led by hooker Akker van der Merwe, Sale’s power brought a try for the hooker
who bundled aside Dan Robson on his way through.
Robert du Preez, who also slotted three penalties in the first half, added the conversion to give Sale an early 7-0 lead.
It took time for Wasps to get into the match but they showed their resilience by working an excellent try.
Wasps ran back Raffi Quirke’s clearance kick and opened up the visiting defence through Gopperth’s long pass across the midfield.
The length of the pass gave Josh Bassett room and time to put Malaki Fekitoa in at the corner.
Gopperth converted only after referee Ridley had taken a moment to make sure his pass was not forward.
That try was the highlight of a half which stuttered along punctuated by a penalty from Gopperth and Du Preez landing his three attempts.
Wasps needed the break to regroup up front. They first lost Brad Shields, who suffered a head injury in the 29th minute, and his replacement Theo Vukasinovic to a leg knock just before the interval.
Sale tried more of the same power after the interval but again were met by firm Wasps defence.
When Gopperth kicked his second penalty to level at 13-13 Sale started to implode and Wasps should have taken full advantage especially when they twice had an advantage of two men.
Luke James was first to go for a challenge on Bassett to be followed by Van der Merwe stopping Michael le Bourgeois around the neck.
Somehow Sale kept in the match with 13 men and James had returned only for them to lose a third player when McGuigan deliberately slapped down a pass to stop an attack.
That infringement gave Gopperth the chance to kick a third penalty for a 16-13 lead after 65 minutes and he added a third five minutes later when MacGinty stopped another attack.
However, the final act belonged to Sale’s men up front who powered Beaumont over from a lineout following Oghre’s sin bin offence. It was brutal end to a tense finale.