Sale 11 Gloucester 33

Previous encounter
By Sarah Braide
June 9 2002

Sale and Gloucester met for the fourth time in the 2001/2002 season to decide which team would contest the Zurich Championship at Twickenham. Both sides were tired but it quickly emerged that the Parker Pen Shield final had taken the fight out of Sale.

We always have problems getting possession against sides with big packs (Gloucester's weighed 17st 7 lbs as opposed to Sale's 16st) but usually the quickness of our backs gets us out of trouble. It wasn't to be on this occasion though.

The problems with the forwards became evident in the first ten minutes as Sale were driven back in scrum after scrum. Brian Moore, commentating for the BBC, singled out Stuart Turner for not binding properly but he was equally scathing about Steve Lander's refereeing. Sale were penalised for being offside in the 11th minute and Ludovic Mercier scored Gloucester's first penalty goal. One of the linesmen came in for criticism a couple of minutes later for failing to notice, or to draw attention to, a blatant late tackle on Charlie Hodgson.

Gloucester were looking dangerous after Sale errors allowed them to gain ground. They were penalised for a forward pass and the break in play looked like it would break their momentum. Sale had put in to a scrum close to the line and were siply not quick enough in working the ball out; Gloucester drove us backwards and Koli Sewabu grabbed the ball and grounded it over the line. Mercier converted.

In the 18th minute Sale scored their first points with a penalty but Mercier promptly cancelled it out after Chris Jones was spotted with his hands in the ruck. Charlie missed another penalty a short time later leaving the score at 3-13.

David O'Leary was very unlucky not to score at the half hour point. He received the ball from Junior Paramore and went for a chip and chase over the line. He got to the ball a fraction of a second too late as it crossed the dead ball line, much to Sale's relief. Ludo Mercier made amends a minute later with a consolatory drop goal.

Sale also went very close to scoring in the 33rd minute. Gloucester knocked on and Scott Lines scooped up the loose ball and flicked it up to Mark Cueto. He kicked down the wing, recaught the ball and almost had a clear run to the line. However a foot marginally in touch as he evaded a tackle spoilt the fun.

The game meandered on to half time with no scores except a penalty goal for Gloucester.

As usual Sale had a good period after the second half restart. In the 50th minute we won a penalty and then in the 62nd a great try briefly gave Sale fans hope for a comeback. The second half saw Sale moving the ball out of the scrum more quickly and on such an occasion, the ball got out to Jason who hesitated a perfect amount of time before chipping the ball over the defence, recatching and passing to Martin Shaw who offloaded to Cueto on the right wing. He put the ball down on the corner and though Charlie didn't get the conversion, the score put Sale within a converted try of Gloucester's total at 11-19.

Ten minutes further into the game Gloucester scored a good try. They were on the attack in front of Sale's line and after a turnover by Sale, Gloucester won possession back and Andy Gomersall quickly picked up the ball, fooled the Sale defenders with an audacious dummy and ran unopposed over the line. Mercier converted to put the score at 11-26.

Popular ex-Sale winger Tom Beim scored the last try of the day in the final ten minutes of normal time by running onto a free ball, fumbled by Mark Cueto as he received a pass from Charlie Hodgson. Beim ran clear to the line and the conversion took Gloucester to their final tally of 33 points. They had an opportunity to add to this total in the 78th minute when O'Leary dropped a pass to throw away what would have definitely been a try for him.

The best moment of the game for Gloucester and Sale fans alike came when Jake Boer dived for a tackle but missed the intended player and ended up taking out Steve Lander instead.

During the eight minutes of injury time Sale looked good for a second try but both sides really just wanted to hear the whistle. Finally the game came to a close and Gloucester celebrated winning their ticket to Twickenham to face Bristol.