Daniel Larrechea, playing at fly-half kicked off for Sale. Early on in the game the crowd were treated to a spot of volleyball from Sebastien Chabal when he batted a mistimed pass up in the air. Although not quite reminiscent of Joe Rokocoko it was typical of the style of play for the evening; much more expansive than of late. We can hope that this is a return to the Sharks of old, but it perhaps had more to do with the relative inexperience of the Newcastle team, and the number of Sharks keen to impress Phillipe Saint-Andre.

Larrechea slotted two penalties in the first ten minutes, to give the home side a 6-0 advantage. The run of the game was all Sale however. After the restart following the second penalty Hanley caught the kick and powered deep into Newcastle's half, chipping a little kick of his own over the defensive line and nearly collected it for a magnificent try. It was not to be, but Newcastle were clearly going to have to be very careful.

As if to underline this state of affairs the Sale bench came on and began to warm up at the Cheadle End. Any bench that features Charlie Hodgson, Barry Stewart, Jason White, Sililo Martens and Mark Taylor is a thing to be reckoned with.

After a scrum in which Sale destroyed Newcastle a fight broke out. Sale took a quick penalty at the posts, but the referee called it back. The teams engaged for another scrum, right in front of the posts, and the referee called another penalty. Chabal took a cheeky tap and thundered across the line, but again the referee called him back. Larrechea lined up for a slightly more orthodox penalty and kicked it neatly over to bring Sale to 9-0 clear.

Sale's Frenchmen had a huge part to play in the opening half; Bruno, Faure, Chabal, and Larrechea all playing a massive part. Unfortunately this came at a cost. Bruno already carried a head wound, and with ten minutes left in the half Lionel Faure broke his leg and was stretchered off the pitch.

Oriol Ripol has been called the Spanish Jason Robinson, and there was a striking similarity on evidence in this match. At one point he tackled the oncoming runner and managed to be on his feet immediately ready to tackle the next runner into touch. Are the Sharks Supporters a partisan crowd? Yes indeed, and they cheered this move with gusto. Seconds later Ripol cam charging down the pich, this time in posession, nearly scoring a try. The crowd's support grew stronger, and they were rewarded a couple of moves later by a lovely clearance from a ruck by Richard Wigglesworth, who passed to Jason Robinson, who selflessly passed to his Spanish counterpart to score the first try of the match. At the close of the half Sale had put 14 unanswered points past Newcastle.

Barely two and a half minutes had passed since Newcastle's kick off at the start if the second half and Oriol Ripol again burst across the line for a try, this time converted by Larrachaea: 21-0.

The second half certainly saw more action in Sale territory, but the Newcastle backs never looked too threatening. Larrechea played a good game, marshalling his troops, and his troops played very well indeed. There were moments when both sides seemed tired, and play became scrappy.

When Chris Jones scored Sale's third try, late in the half and the Sharks were up 28-0 the game was clearly won. Newcastle piled on the pressure and suddenly they had scored a try, and a fight had broken out and the game was over, the scores 28-5. It was a bewildering end to the match.

Report by Ben Lomond for salesupporters.co.uk