De Klerk seals it late for Sale
SCRUM- HALF’S MAGIC SPELL
FAF DE KLERK’S tightrope walk try with two minutes left crowned a dramatic late Premiership Rugby Cup final turnaround that gave Sale their first trophy for 14 years last night.
The Springbok scrum- half, brought off the bench with Sale 19- 10 down and the clock running down as part of a heavyweight cavalry with Manu Tuilagi, helped engineer a 17- point swing in the last 13 minutes.
Tuilagi joined in to muscle No 8 Dan du Preez over for Sale’s second lineout drive try that brother Rob converted and then the South African stand- off put over a penalty with five minutes left, which gave Sale a onepoint lead. But it was De Klerk’s blindside magic – with Du Preez converting superbly – that put Sale out of sight.
The late twist denied Chris Robshaw a trophy to sign off with before he joins San Diego Legion. With Quins in eighth place in the league, last night’s game represented his last chance of silverware after 16 years at the club.
The final, staged at Sale’s ground by virtue of their superior qualifying record, was due to have been played in March but delayed because of the coronavirus outbreak. It was far from a classic but it lacked nothing for competitiveness and had a feisty streak too.
Quins lost second- row Stephan Lewies to the sin- bin in the 10th minute after Paul Gustard’s side coughed up a string of early penalties and Sale hooker Curtis Langdon made them pay with a try from a rolling maul.
But Quins hit back when No8 James Chisholm powered over for a 32nd minute try and, with Marcus Smith slotting three penalties, they led 16- 10 at the break. Smith added a further penalty 10 minutes after the break and Quins kept Sale at arm’s length with a tight game plan underscored by a stream of box kicks from Danny Care. But then came the big guns off the bench with De Klerk and Tuilagi joining Tom Curry.
Curry had been used earlier than intended, replacing twin brother Ben in the 25th minute after he went down with a serious- looking ankle injury.