There were no head-holding moments for Eddie Jones in this one. Having watched his England captain, Dylan Hartley, land himself in further trouble the night before, Jones was able to watch how an alternative arrangement might work. Not that Sale bore much comparison to the sort of opposition Saracens’ luminaries might face on the fields of international rugby but the way they dispatched the Sharks on a wet evening was ruthless and precise, qualities that go down well in Test rugby.
The victory was built round Saracens’ lineout, which was dominant to a degree rarely seen at European level. Jamie George, whose form has for some time outstripped that of Hartley, once again hit his targets at each of the myriad lineouts, where he picked out George Kruis as often as anyone.
“We get through a lot of work with the hookers at England, whoever it is,” Kruis said of the various relationships he has developed at club and international level. “I’ve known Jamie for a long time, so there’s definitely a good partnership there, but whoever we’re put in with, it’s always a pleasure.”
If Jones is pondering a change of captaincy, Owen Farrell continues to set the tone. He was withdrawn, curiously, a minute into the second half, much to his disgust. Mark McCall explained that there was slight tightness in the player’s quad but the reason he returned him for those 60 seconds after half-time was that his leadership in the changing room had been so clear and cogent it just did not feel right not to let him go out with the others for the second half.
That is some endorsement. Kruis agrees that Farrell has the right qualities. “For a start Dyls has led the [England] team unbelievably well,” he said. “We’ve got a number of leaders in the team – and Owen’s one of them. Billy [Vunipola] is another. Mike Brown. All these guys are big leaders. Owen’s the benchmark of where we want to be. He’s a good leader, he’s smart and he’s a good player.”
Not that Saracens were screaming out for direction during half-time. There are as many leaders in this side as there are in the England set-up. It is true they were only two tries to the good at the break but at 26-3 the bonus point seemed inevitable and the win was in the bag. They had had two tries disallowed, correctly, by the TMO by then but tries three and four followed within 10 minutes of the resumption.
McCall was more exercised by the fact that some of his players were having to play in Europe the week after they had finished the autumn internationals. Following a 50-point win he could make the case more vocally than his counterparts at Leicester and Northampton. “It’s ludicrous that these fourth internationals are at the end of the window, instead of the start. I just don’t think it’s the right thing to ask the players to back up. In the long run there shouldn’t be a fourth international a week before we go into Europe.”
As ever, the players themselves are more phlegmatic. Kruis said: “I think it’s all right. We’re fairly well looked after. You do reach some emotional highs playing in these big games. The coaching team understand that and gave us an extra day off. From my point of view, I’m pretty happy.”
Steve Diamond was not, though. Sale’s director of rugby refused to engage with the media afterwards any more than his team had got to grips with this assignment, which was not at all. Josh Charnley, the rugby league recruit, had a good day under the many high balls that came his way and saved one of those disallowed tries but otherwise there was little to encourage the visitors. It is turning into a horror season for them. They need all the help they can get.
Saracens Goode (Spencer, 62); Maitland (Earle, 57), Bosch, Barritt (capt), Wyles; Farrell (Lozowski, 42), Wigglesworth; M Vunipola (Barrington, 57), George (Brits, 52), Du Plessis (Koch, 57), Itoje, Kruis, Rhodes, Brown (Skelton, 52), Burger (Conlon, 67).
Tries Bosch, Maitland 2, George, Wyles, Barrington Cons Farrell 2, Lozowski 2. Pens Farrell 3, Bosch.
Sale Arscott (Mugford, 75); Odogwu, James, Leota (Jennings, 65), Charnley; MacGinty, Mitchell (Phillips, 65); Harrison (Flynn, 60), Webber (Neild, 57), Aulika (Parker, 60), Beaumont (capt; Nott, 21), Mills, T Curry, Seymour (B Curry, 57), Pearce.
Pen MacGinty.
Sin-bin Pearce 22, Mills 46, Neild 69.
Referee M Raynal (Fr) Attendance 8,746.
