Gloucester 24 - 14 Sale
By tubby shark and Tigger too
November 29 2004
Another forced 'A' game for both sides. Is this what the paying punter has to put up with in the name of more cash from international games? Tubby shark reflects on a game that should have been a bit of a showcase and Tigger too fights a hangover to mumble something.
Pre-game - great atmosphere in
the ground - I think about 11,600
announced over the tannoy.. Sale playing in the usual away strip were
out on the field early in-front of a packed shed..
Disapointing to hear the boo's from the aforementioned supporters on
sale running onto the field pre kick-off.. but more of this later..
The game started at a fairly hectic pace - with handling errors from
both sides. Sale were good value for a three nil lead in the first
10mins.. Glos had several handling errors when they looked dangerous
outwide - Fanaloua looking very powerful with ball in hand and (IMHO)
MoM Simon Amor making some superb jinking breaks..
The deadlock was broken with a copybook of last weeks England
cross-field kick.. Hanley spotted the danger late against Garvey but
looked to have recovered.. Standing a good 70 yards away there appeared
to be a bit of collision / flapping at a ball and confusion over was a
try scored but the ref duly consulted the touch judge and let it
stand.. fair enough..
Glos then scored an extremely well worked try in the far corner.. lots
of hands and a Glos player seeming to lose the ball forward only to
catch his own forward pass.. The shed liked it though and the ref let
it stand..
From the restart, an innocuous carry by the Glos hooker into the Sale
pack resulted in a very painful looking leg injury right in front of
us.. After about 5 mins the ref made a good call to send the players in
whilst the medics sorted out the situation.. Now in no way was this a
mark of respect to an injured player but more to do with the fact it
was about 5 degrees outside and players were stood around getting
cold.. Sales reserves decided to warm up at the other end of the pitch
- to a ridiculous amount of boo-ing and chants of off off from the
shed.. PSA duly told the players to come off and about 5 mins later the
game restarted.. Comments from Glos supporters that this 'Won't be
forgotten' are a bit of an over-reaction I feel.. (or are we football
fans now).. Bad luck to the lad who we understood from a steward has
broken his leg just below the knee btw... hoping for a speedy recovery
for him..
Then Sales moment of 'glory'.. repeated carries from both backs and
forwards saw a surge towards the Glos line from a well worked lineout
to the middle.. The moved looked to have stalled when Toddy broke down
the side and over in the corner.. some more boo's and traitor comments
but it was getting fairly light hearted by now.. the Glos fans around
us having spotted Byron Hayward and amusing themsleves with literary
humour.. still the kick was missed from out wide but the score wasn't
out of reach just yet..
2nd half.. probably the defining moment of the game really.. A Glos
attack into the corner Sale had just scored in resulted in some
fantastic Sale defence.. We looked to have held them out when a blatant
obstruction by the Glos prop backing into the defensive line allowed
replacement hooker parks to crash over. Now I know I am biased in my
support but all the Glos guys around me had the same opinion..
Did it really matter - in the end nope.. Glos went over for a 4th try..
then Sale getting a penalty when 13 points adrift chose to go for
posts.. Bonus point I thought but our lineout was working far better
and pride at that stage would have said go for the 5 / 7..
At the end - the margin of victory was about right.. A great steal by
Chris Day in the line prevented a 5th Glos try and let the ref blow up
for full time..
What can we say: Well the youngsters / stand-ins and most of the rest
gave 100% to this game.. The disapointment was there for everyone to
see as they left the field..
Positives: Redpath looked sharp when he came on. The front row / five
played extremely well in competing - Glos got a few rolling mauls going
but nothing like they are able and the scrum held on.. Lineouts were
won (apart from when we were throwing long).. and both Schoey and Day
made more tackles than most back row in a prem match.. Big Red carried
the ball solidly along with John Carter, who looked better than Caillet
in a competitive position.. although the Frenchman again had a physical
presence..
The backline looked more organised and Todd / Josh T coped pretty well
with a huge cetre partnership of Mauger and Fanaloua opposite them..
CRJ looked very solid on the wing with little chance - even less ball
got to Hanley, who looked lethargic at times as noted elsewhere..
Hayward was doing well at fullback until he allowed a couple of
Garryowens to bounce and kicking was solid enough..
Lund looked very out of sorts and was helped off.. a repeat of the Leic
game at twickers for him.. expected more given his recent run of very
good form..
Bozzi was very physical but the late hits on SH / FH could have cost us
in a tighter game.. If we are keeping him (he looks big enough) then
that needs sorting out..
Well everyones back now till Feb... I think some of the lads have done
enough to up their claim for a starting place.. some future players
have shown their worth and my Xmas pressie list to PSA is:
1. Two centres (one who can cover 10)
2. A number 8 / angry man 2nd row
3. A hooker / prop utility player
we are good enough to make the Heineken Cup a must and challenge for
the league..
And this report just in from Tigger too...
The first thing is to wish a speedy recovery to Chris Fortey from what looked like a horendous injury. When the referee took the players off the pitch I have never heard a rugby gound go so quiet. Until the Sale bench took to the field when they were quite rightly booed. Bad decision and I am glad that Brian Redpath had the presense of mind to get them off.
I was at the infamous 'St Valantines Day Massacre' last year when both sides were in a similar position. Both sides were missing key players to international duty and injury. We were outscored 5 tries to 2 and were made to look very ordinary. The final score was 38 - 12. This time was going to be different. This time we were going to win. This time I honestly believed that we could come away with 4 points.
From the kick off both sides were making basic errors. Knock ons being the main one. Gloucester looking the more likely to score until we were awarded a penalty in the first 10 minutes which Byron Hayward put between the posts. 5 minutes later Hanley was out jumped by Marcel Garvey to claim a cross field kick from Simon Amor to go over for Gloucester's first try. From where we were stood it looked like Hanley knocked the kick backwards and Garvey reacted very quickly to ground the ball.
The situation got worse 15 mins later Terry Fanolua went over for Gloucester's second try. At this point Sale did not look like scoring. They had hardly been in the Gloucester's 22. Then came the injury to Fortey. From were we stood it is not clear what happened. Schofield was the first to react calling to the referee and after a few minutes the referee took the players from the pitch. The reaction from the Shed to the warming up of the Sale bench was vocal and understanable. The Gloucester supporters around us did not see it as disrespectful but a little stupid.
From the lineout that restarted the game we had our first real attacking opportunity and Robert Todd went over for a try. The last time Todd scored a try for Gloucester was against Sale in the wildcard semi-final last season. A fact that a few Gloucester supporters reminded me of. Hayward missed the conversion. So 12 - 8 at half time. Considering that Gloucester had the better of the first 40 was not too bad. We could still win the game.
Early in the second half we were awarded a penalty which Hayward converted. 12 - 11 and game on. That lasted for around 7 minutes until James Parkes went over for Gloucester's third try. Sale had been defending well when they looked to have been obstructed and Parkes went over. It was hard to see so I will have to take the referee's decision. Sale at this point seemed to be on the rise. We were looking sharper and more incisive. This was in no small part due to the introduction of Brian Redpath. The third try seemed to take the wind out of our sails.
At 17 - 11 we still had a chance but we could not break the gain line. Gloucester defended well and Simon Amor and Terry Fanaloua always looked dangerous. We could not get the ball out wide and Hanley was fairly anonymous for most of the game. We looked weak in the scrum and lineout. We ran out of ideas and in the 75 minute Gloucester got their bonus point with Jon Goodridge going over for Gloucester's fourth try which Amor converted 24 - 11 game over. The decision to kick a late penalty instead of going for a lineout was a little confusing. We were 11 points behind and if we had managed to score a converted try we would have got within 6 points and a least come away with something. Haywood scored the penalty. 24 - 14 and the game was over.
The score was a fair reflection of the game. Gloucester looked the more dangerous coming forward, especially Amor who was everywhere. They also defended well and dominated the scrums. Sale looked weak in the scrums, made schoolboy errors, could not get the ball out wide and generally looked to have run out of ideas. Besides a couple of darting runs from Josh Taumalolo, Redpath was the only shining light on a very dark night.
The glass is still half full. We were missing 13 players, as were Gloucester, but it seemed to affect us more. With the return of our internationals we will be back to our best. What that the last three games have shown is that we need the now infamous Big Bok etc. We will get into the Heineken Cup and will need a squad with more depth to be successful in it. Come February I would hope to see some new faces: especially in the centre.
I had hoped for a different result this time round. It was not as bad as last time we played at Kingsholm. PSA was not a happy man at the end of the game and to be honest neither was I. It was to get worse. Lets hope that the injuries to Hodgson and Cueto are not bad. I could tell you all about that but thats a story for another day........