Losing is in danger of becoming a habit for Sale after a stellar Glasgow side headed back north with a bonus-point win in this Champions Cup opener.
Alex Sanderson’s hosts, beaten here by Exeter a week ago and already off the pace in their Prem campaign, let slip an early 14-0 lead to a Warriors team packed with some of Scotland’s finest talent.
Franco Smith’s men, inspired by the captain, Kyle Steyn, and centre pairing Stafford McDowall and Sione Tuipulotu, showed their mettle to beat Sale in this competition for the second season running.
Several of Sale’s England internationals – George Ford, Tom Roebuck, Bevan Rodd, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Carpenter and Asher Opoku-Fordjour – were unavailable. But defeats on their home turf on the outskirts of Salford have been a rarity in recent seasons under Sanderson; now they have suffered two inside a week.
The Sale director of rugby, whose side lost 27-26 at home to Exeter after leading 26-6, said: “I’m not concerned – I’ve been on longer runs of losses in 20 years of coaching.
“I understand that at times it gets hard, but that’s the way sport goes and it’s about finding a way to work your way out of it. Weirdly, some part of me enjoys that aspect of the job. You have to otherwise you’ll spend 30-40% of your life in abject misery.”
Smith, Glasgow’s head coach, could not hide his delight after another notable victory over Sale, who they thumped 38-19 at Scotstoun last December. The South African said: “Sale were on a revenge path after last year, but I’ve got a lot of confidence and trust in my boys. We often fight back, but to score 26 points after you’ve been down 14 was important. Now it’s on to the next challenge.”
It was a bitterly cold, windswept evening, the kind that can test the soul, but Sale quickly warmed to their task. With the wind at their backs, they led when their captain, Ernst van Rhyn, outmuscled the visiting defence to squeeze over from close range and Rob du Preez converted.
Sale lost the centre Rekeiti Ma’asi-White to injury in the 16th minute but his replacement Ollie Davies, 19, scored on his Champions Cup debut soon after following excellent work from the full-back Arron Reed.
Du Preez’s second conversion put Sale 14-0 ahead but Glasgow steadied themselves and began to go through the phases in home territory. Their pressure finally told in the 32nd minute when the hooker Gregor Hiddleston was driven over in the left corner.
Moments before the interval, the Scotland flanker Rory Darge dived over from close range and Adam Hastings’s conversion cut Sale’s lead to two points.
The way Glasgow ended the first half poured confidence into Smith’s players and they seized the initiative to edge in front just two minutes after the interval. A poor box kick from Sale’s scrum-half, Raffi Quirke, was seized on by Steyn and he showed impressive speed and strength to break away, outpace a leaden-footed home defence and score.
It was awful defending and Hastings added the conversion to put Glasgow 21-14 in front before his side grabbed a fourth try in the 54th minute. This time the impressive McDowall capitalised on more dreadful defending to canter over from close range on his 100th appearance for the Warriors, who had now scored 26 points without reply.
In the 64th minute, Marius Louw scored Sale’s third try after good work by Tom O’Flaherty. Du Preez converted to cut Glasgow’s advantage to five points.
Could Sanderson’s men, with Ben Curry having been introduced, rouse themselves once again to find a match-winning score? The answer was no as Sale were left with a now familiar sinking feeling.
Sanderson, a positive person by nature, said: “We lost by a point last week and five points tonight, so it’s not a big step to start turning things around and getting wins. I’m encouraged by that, but there are some things we can do better.”
