Sharks bite back after Worcester shellacking
TWO games, no wins for Sale in the Premiership Rugby Cup but a performance on Friday night that left their academy coach “proud.”
It was not the greatest game but, unlike the previous weekend which saw a lopsided scoreline due to Worcester naming a strong XV, the inexperienced Sharks were more competitive against a similarly youthful Saracens.
Sarries remain unbeaten, having dispatched Leicester in the opening round of the competition, but they were tested by the hosts.
“I was really proud,” Sharks’ academy coach Neil Briggs said. “Off the back of what happened last week, we set some goals. We wanted to score some tries, which we did, and to keep the ball in the right areas.
“We started really, really well, were dominant in the collisions at the breakdown but had a little bit of a spell where Sarries got two quick tries. We got back into it just before half-time and I thought the boys responded really well.”
The Greater Manchester outfit were frustrated by the Warriors’ decision to field an almost first choice lineup last week in what is a developmental competition, but it was two well-matched teams that went toe-to-toe at the AJ Bell.
Nine members, or graduates, of the Londoners’ academy started on Friday but they outclassed the home side in the opening 35 minutes. The visitors iniconstructed tially showed why they have one of the best youth systems in Europe as Joel Kpoku, Dom Morris and Ben Earl all impressed, going 12-3 in front.
Sale started reasonably well and benefited from Saracens’ ill-discipline when Will Cliff took the hosts 3-0 ahead, but Sarries soon assumed command.
Morris and Kpoku were particularly to the fore and, the centre’s break, the talented lock was on hand to score from close quarters.
Malins then found his range for the only time in the contest and a nicely timed pass to the surging Morris, who had taken an excellent angle, allowed Matt Gallagher to increase their buffer.
Back came the Sharks, however, and an excellently effort gave them hope at the interval. Kieran Wilkinson took the ball to the line, fed Connor Doherty and his break and pass sent Arron Reed scampering clear before the wing provided the assist for Paolo Odogwu.
Briggs’ side also began the second period on the front foot with their flyhalf dictating proceedings impressively. Sale presfollowing surised the opposition line and thought they had scored through Josh Strauss, only for referee Anthony Woodthorpe to deem that the ball hadn’t been grounded.
It did not matter, though, as from the following attack Cliff darted over, handing his team a 15-12 advantage going into the final quarter, but the Sharks failed to hold on.
Malins overcame his earlier issues to level matters from the tee, but the draw left Sarries’ coach Adam Powell disappointed.
“We felt we controlled large parts of the first half, probably without converting that into points by simply not being patient with the ball and trying to force off-loads,” Powell said.
“In the second half we didn’t quite execute a few lineouts in good field position and let them back in. We dropped our energy a bit, so it’s a big learning curve for us.”