Bullied Bath see 14-man Sharks put bite on them
VAN GRAAN: ‘WE LOST PHYSICAL BATTLE HANDS DOWN’
20 BY ADAM HATHAWAY SALE boss Alex Sanderson saw his side bully Bath to defeat despite playing a man short from early on.
And new Bath chief Johann van Graan was left shocked by his side’s lack of impact in the game’s physical battles.
Sale stand on top of the Premiership after two rounds – this was a performance worthy of that spot, after they were up against it with men missing.
Sharks prop Nick Schonert was sent off for a high shot on lock Dave Attwood after just nine minutes, but Sale stepped up to the mark.
They even went down to 13 men for 10 minutes in the second half, when replacement prop Ross
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Harrison was sin-binned in the middle of a goal-line stand.
Bath hammered at the Sale line for 10 minutes yet couldn’t score. Sub flanker Jono Ross secured Sale’s bonus point.
Sanderson claimed Sharks got their just reward for preseason graft and keeping their heads, to make it two wins from two in the Premiership. He said: “They didn’t kick stones [ following the red card] which you can do after an event like that. They managed it very well physically, played in the right areas, came alive in attack and they showed the endeavour they have shown in the last couple of weeks.
“It is another performance worthy of all the work they have done in pre-season, that is what I am most happy about, that is what I am chuffed about. They get some worth for how hard they worked and how tight they are.”
Schonert’s red came as the game has launched yet another clampdown on high tackles – but Sanderson will review the incident.
He added: “We are in the business of looking after people’s heads.
“I’ll look, if there are any mitigating factors – maybe we’ll get him off a ban, but as a tackler you have to adjust your body height. They are the laws, we must apply ourselves to them.”
Bath, bottom last year, looked lightweight up front, apart from in the scrum, and lost the arm wrestle.
Former Munster chief Van Graan moaned: “Against that physicality we lost the physical battle hands down. I am very disappointed, it is not the performance I was looking for. Accuracy was not good enough today but that happens when you get beaten in collisions.”
Wing Tom O’flaherty kicked off the scoring and hooker Acker van der Merwe bounced four Bath defenders as if they weren’t there to make it 17-6 on 26 minutes.
Bath were down 23-6 at the break before Joe Cokanasiga got one back for the hosts.
Sub Tom Curry scored with his first touch in reply, before a Tom de Glanville try for the hosts was cancelled out by Ross to bag the bonus. BATH: Tries: Cokanasiga, De Glanville; Pens: Francis (2); Cons: Francis (2) SALE: Tries: O’flaherty, Van der Merwe, B Curry, Ross; Pens: du Preez (3); Cons: du Preez (4)