Season review 2004-2005

By Whaley Shark
May 29 2005

By any measure, 2004-2005 has been a good season for Sale. A storming start, international recognition for many players, finishing third in the ZP (thus securing a HC place) and, to cap it all, winning the European Challenge Cup. Whaley Shark gives us a personal view of the season just gone.

Well, it’s all my wife’s fault really. Her boss offered her a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to work in California over the winter of 2003-2004, which she took and, for the first time in a good few years, I was let off the leash at the weekends. Friday night rugby at Edgeley Park had just started, and seemed like a good plan, although I hadn’t watched rugby since student days in the Midlands, hadn’t played for quite a while, and hadn’t really followed the game at all since I stopped playing. Anyway, my first home game was Wasps, and I went to most of the other home games of that season. Then came the big decision- stick with it, or let it slide? I took the plunge and splashed out on a season ticket, and this is the story of my first full season. It is in no way objective or balanced, more a series of snapshots of our home games. …..

It was like my birthday when the little, fat envelope arrived and I got out the season ticket book- then I realised I was going to have to keep it safe for 2 whole months, a major challenge for Mr Organised. A few days later, it was my birthday yet again when the next season ticket arrived. Well, I thought, maybe it’s a buy one, get one free offer. Wrong! My bank statement showed me that I was now the proud owner of two full price season tickets- this was starting to look expensive. Anyway, the nice man in the ticket office sorted it all out and all that remained was to pass the time until the new season by keeping an eye on the message board.

The pre-season game against Glasgow on a mild evening let me meet my new neighbours, who were long-standing residents but seemed remarkably tolerant of the idiot who had joined them. Then it was the real thing, and one of the season’s defining games against Leicester on a warm Sunday afternoon. That win, with a first look at the summer’s recruits in serious action, was an excellent way to start the season, though the last few minutes were rather nerve-shredding as we hung on to an uncomfortably narrow lead. The much-hyped game against Sale-in-Exile Saracens wasn’t that memorable in the end, but the 57-3 game against new boys Worcester certainly was- we seemed unstoppable that night and, apart from a couple of tactless announcements over the stadium PA, all was well with the world. Add in a couple of away wins against Wasps and Leeds, and we reached October at the top of the table- played 5, won 5.

Then things started to get tougher- we lost to London Irish in the last moments of the game, their penalty kick propelled over the crossbar by a blast of boos and whistles from all around the ground. The referee was right though…..The Irish supporters were daft, and I remember a bouncing atmosphere, but their players were much cannier- there was always someone unintentionally but usefully in the way at the fringe of a ruck or maul, or doing up a boot or getting mud from an eye just at the edge of Charlie’s vision when he was kicking. Professional no doubt, but unsporting. Next up was the first sell-out of the season, a Charlie Masterclass (I wonder why?) and a convincing 39-25 win against Newcastle.

Then we hit the first real wobble- with a few injuries from earlier games, and with several regulars absent for internationals, we lost three Premiership games in a row, including a home loss to Harlequins, memorable for scrum after scrum on the Harlequins line when they had been weakened by sin-binnings but, in the end, nothing to show for all that effort. Things got back on track at the Boxing Day sell-out (and my brother’s Christmas present) against Bath. It was a grey, cold day and Jonathan Humphries seemed to do as much to slow the game up as all the London Irish players put together. Once he’d spluttered to a halt completely and been substituted, things got better and this ended as a decent win, 19-10, to be followed by a Saturday afternoon win against Northampton and then more away wobbles during the Six Nations, though we won the home game against Leeds.

Then, suddenly, after more than a month without a home game, it was the run-in to the season’s end. The Wasps game, in front of a full house, was beyond belief- so bad in the first half that, after 20 minutes, most of the Sale team were standing around, hands on hips, and my neighbours were on the point of leaving. It was chalk and cheese though and, when all seemed lost, we produced a breathtaking second half comeback, just failing to sneak a draw at the death. The last home Premiership game was three weeks later against Gloucester, a game I could only attend by leaving the wife to find her own way home from Macclesfield at a cost of many, many Brownie points. In the event, that was a comfortable win against opponents lacking spark- maybe Mr Melville knew the writing was on the wall even then.

So, at home, “the most charismatic team in England” (Observer 22 May) played 11, won 8 and lost 3, scoring 306 points, including 34 tries, and I was able to be a small part of it all. What does next season hold?