There was an air of trepidation about this fixture. When top teams
clash and there are international matches on at the same time, the
stage is set for some worrying rugby. At least when the teams are
unevenly matched there is the chance of some giant killing.
The
Sharks were down a fair few players to injury, and a fair few were
sitting on the bench at Twickenham, and two were even allowed to
start against the All Blacks. But the visiting Wasps could claim
a pretty significant shortfall too.
The
first chance to score came just one minute into the game, when the
Sharks conceded a penalty and Jeremy Staunton lined up for the posts,
but missed. Five minutes later, again in Sharks territory he tried
to sneak a drop goal, and again missed, but he finally got his kicking
boots back eight minutes into the match with a successful penalty
kick. 0-3 to Wasps.
Folowing
the first scrum after the restart Richard Wigglesworth took a quick
tap penalty and a mass of Sharks followed him, driving up the pitch
to great support form the Edgeley Park crowd. The try never came,
but when a penalty was awarded against the Wasps Daniel Larrachea
did give the Sharks three points to ease them into the game.
Larrachea
was playing well, but he seemed to be slipping deep into Sale territory,
perhaps finding playing at fullback more natural than fly half.
There was not much in the way of spark form either team, though
both sides were playing well defensively. Sale certainly had the
upper egde, with Sebastien Chabal making some powerful runs, and
Jason Robinson pulling a classic out of the bag, unfortunatel not
to score a try at some point.
Larrachea
kicked home two more penalties in the half, Staunton one, and the
whistle went as Larrachea slotted a neat little drop goal to leave
the scores at 12-6.
After
the break Staunton and Larrachea traded penalties before being replaced
by Lee Thomas and Dave Walder respectively. Thomas certainly made
an impact on the game, seeming to look to his centres for running
opportunities slightly more than Larrachea. He also scored a penalty,
and Walder a drop goal, the Sharks eventually winning the match
18-12.
The
game was certainly aggressive, for the forwards al least, but the
backs had a pretty cold night waiting for the odd ball to come their
way.
The
result was excellent and saw the Sharks climb the Premiership table,
but Sharks fans expect to see running rugby.
Report
by Ben Lomond for salesupporters.co.uk
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