The good news for Sale was a breakthrough win against champion opposition. The bad news is, once the maths had been worked through on a ludicrously tight mid-table, they dropped a place to eighth. Still, only two points separate them from Wasps in fourth, so they will secure the top-six status they so ardently want if they manage a few more results like this.
They are a gathering force. The move to Saturday rugby is proving popular, even if the traffic situation on the approach to their smart new home remains desperate enough to keep making reports it has no business appearing in. Sale are building towards five-figure crowds but the atmosphere, which can be so sterile in new stadiums, already has an old-school feel about it.
“We’ve still got problems with the infrastructure round here,” said Steve Diamond, Sale’s director of rugby, “but at least they’re turning up now, unlike last year. If they keep turning up, we may spend some more money on the team.”
On the field this Sale performance was after the fashion of the boss, hard-edged and to the point. Off it the Diamond tour de force continued, continually managing expectations while applying the blow torch to injustice. This time the referee got it in the neck for merely resetting the scrum Sale drove back to the Northampton line in the first half. Then Diamond repeated calls for Danny Cipriani to be given a chance with England, drawing comparison with the fly-half’s opposite number, Stephen Myler, who is ahead in England’s pecking order.
“Myler and Danny are top players, but it’s unfair on Danny if selection for England is affected by the performance of his team, because Northampton have a better team than us generally. Today we got the rub of the green up front, because of their lack of personnel, and Danny played well. But he’s played well all year. On his performances over the last three months, he deserves a shot.”
Certainly, heoutshone Myler on this occasion, albeit from a very comfortable armchair. He didn’t miss a shot at goal, despite a vicious wind, nor did he misplace a kick for position, and his looping runs and deft flicks sent many a runner into space.
Diamond’s opposite number and erstwhile Sale team-mate, Jim Mallinder, was phlegmatic about this first defeat for the champions in eight matches, citing the absence of four lock forwards. “One of rugby’s strengths is you need men in specialist positions,” he said, “and one of those is tall, heavy men in the second row. Unfortunately we ran out of them today. It happens. Most teams would struggle if they lost four of their best second-rows. Not many squads can call on more than that.”
They felt the absence keenly, well beaten at the set piece, conceding two line-out-and-drive tries and a 20-0 deficit before they managed to fire a shot themselves in the final quarter. All four locks, though, including Courtney Lawes, should be available for the trip to the Ospreys, when Europe resumes next week, as will Dylan Hartley, whose suspension expires this week.
There was a sense the Ospreys match was more on Northampton’s mind than this, while Sale, whose hopes in Europe are over, poured everything into the here and now. “Top four is not out of the question for us,” Diamond said, “but we’d have to play like that every week. Whether we’re capable of it is another matter.”
And with one more reference to his club as minnows he was off, leaving us simultaneously excited about Sale’s future and in no doubt of what an achievement against the odds any success would represent. A tour de force, indeed.
Sale Haley; Addison, Leota, Tuitupou (Arscott, 76), Cueto; Cipriani (MacLeod, 71), Cusiter (Cliff, 76); Lewis-Roberts (De Marchi, 76), Jones, Cobilas (Harrison, 63), Mills (Ioane, 70), Hines, Braid (capt), Lund (Seymour, 52), Beaumont.
Tries Lewis-Roberts, Braid. Cons Cipriani 2. Pens Cipriani 2.
Northampton Foden (Wilson, 65); Elliot (K Pisi, 65), G Pisi, Burrell, North; Myler, Dickson (Hodgson, 72); Corbisiero (A Waller, 58), Haywood (Williams, 72), Ma’afu (Denman, 58), Dickinson, Clark (Onojaife, 73), Wood (capt), Nutley (Harrison, 58), Dowson.
Try Harrison. Con Myler
Sin-bin Dickinson, Clark.
Referee M Carley. Attendance 8,311.
