Cup gets a boost as Sale claim a late win
ROUBAN BIRCH’S late try sealed victory for Sale in an entertaining encounter which did the muchmaligned competition proud.
The Premiership Rugby Cup has been met with apathy in some quarters but the Sharks won it last season to claim their first silverware since 2006.
It remains a useful vehicle for blooding young players and giving gametime to experienced pros.
This match also drew a healthy crowd of 4,725 who saw Birch’s 72nd-minute close-range score seal the win for the hosts.
Gareth Harris, Sale’s junior academy head coach who joined the club in the summer, said: “We had a pretty young backline out there tonight, so to have the experience of Rob du Preez there was really good.
“With (Jack) Metcalf coming in, (Elliot) Gourlay at the back and Reedy (Arron Reed) and (Tom) Roebuck doing what they do well on the wings, I was really pleased.
“In terms of the way we play, it was great to see those young lads performing well.”
Both sides made seven changes from their previous Premiership Rugby Cup encounters, with Sale academy graduate Gourlay making his first start at full-back.
Samoan international prop Logovi’i Mulipola returned to the Newcatle side at tight-head prop while Gary Graham captained the team for the first time.
In an entertaining game which ebbed and flowed – and which saw former Gloucester player Nick
Wood enjoy a fine refereeing debut – Sale led through Rob du Preez’s penalty.
Newcastle steadied themselves and centre Will Haydon-Wood pounced a loose ball after Arron Reed failed to deal with a crafty kick ahead from scrumhalf Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti.
Brett Connon added the simple conversion to put the visitors ahead, but Sale regained the lead on 28 minutes when centre Metcalf reacted quickest to a loose ball to score in the right corner.
Du Preez drilled over a low touchline conversion and the Sharks led 15-7 at half-time thanks to a delightful try from Reed, who stripped the ball in a tackle and showed blistering speed to outstrip the Newcastle defence and score in the left corner.
In the second half, Connon and Du Preez traded penalties before Nathan Earle scored in the right corner for the Falcons.
The visitors then led with 12 minutes to go when a dominant scrum handed them a penalty which Haydon-Wood kicked brilliantly to the left corner, his side capitalising on the field position as replacement hooker George McGuigan scored from the driving maul.
The missed conversion left them just two ahead going into the closing stages, and Sale snatched the win when homegrown lock Birch went in for the decisive converted try in the right corner.
Roebuck burst through a gap and looked set to score before being stopped just short, but Gus Warr‘s neat pass at the ruck allowed Birch to barrel over the line for the winning score.
After the Falcons failed to capitalise on a five-metre scrum with the last play of the game, frustrated Newcastle line-out coach Scott MacLeod said: “It’s a massively disappointing result.
“Our own mistakes cost us in the end because we had opportunities to win it, but I’m proud of the way the boys stuck in.”