Sale Sharks v Saracens Premiership Report
Caluori the shark slayer
By saracensfan62
April 20 2026
Rather a change from weeks past, no? I was not expecting that. Tuning in a 3pm today, I was frankly extremely nervous for this match. Our record at the AJ Bell/Corpacq/Salford stadium (call it what you will) is not exactly stellar. However. we laid on rather a masterclass and dismantled Sale, the final score being 85-19. I’m not going to sit here and say that result was entirely of our own brilliance, since even the most diehard Sale fan would say that the Sharks were utterly dismal today. The only 2 players who I observed any real fight or grit from were Tom O’Flaherty and Asher Opoku-fordjour, those 2 coincidentally being Sale’s 2 tryscorers. Otherwise it was rather a red/black wash, so to speak.
First Half
It took Sarries a mere 3 minutes to open the scoring. A long pass wide from Olly Hartley found Roti Segun, who (rather too easily) broke the tackles of Gus Warr and Tom O’Flaherty, outpaced Rob du Preez and burst through to score. 7 minutes later, we were in again. Sale's defensive frailties were exposed with Max Malins breaking through the home defensive line, side stepping Ernst van Rhyn and Sam Dugdale with ease before the ball went through the hands of Itoje, allowing Noah Caluori (the ‘Sharks slayer’ as he’s apparently known) to dot down for his first and our second.
A mere 6 minutes later, following numerous pick and gos from Maro Itoje, Rhys Carre etc, Tom Willis was able to evade tackles of sharks defenders and extend his arm to dot down. Next was a try that I’m sure every Sarries fan particularly enjoyed. Following an attacking lineout, Caluori went on a burst through the Sale defensive line, and was stopped a mere 7/8m or so from the line. However, Bracken found an onrushing Rhys Carre who steamrolled Asher Opoku-Fordjour and found his way to the tryline. Was it ever in doubt? Try bonus point secured within 34 minutes and Sarries were rampant. The score? 26-0, however there was time to grab some more points before halftime. A Bracken box kick was missed entirely by Segun and O’Flahety. The erroneous bounce meant the ball landed next to JG2 who tapped back to Fergus Burke. The Scotsman was able to evade defenders and intelligently chipped ahead and chased, realising he was running against forwards. He was able to dot down and score. The conversion was neat and the score 33-0. Another try followed merely 3 mins later, with Earl, Tompkins and Malins combining beautifully with offloads galore to allow Noah Caluori to find the line, diving over to dot down neatly. The halftime score 38-0. My only thought at that point was, simply, WOW. How excellent were Saracens and as for Sale… I felt bad for our Alex S having to sit there, helplessly watching his team crumble.
Second Half
Sale came flying out the blocks and seemed, for a few minutes, much more like themselves. Tom O’Flaherty was able to find the line following a lovely attacking spell for the homeside, bursting through the tackles of Segun and Malins (this probably the only negative thing I can say about those 2 from the entire game!). Normal service was resumed minutes later. Some horrible Sale defending with numerous defenders stepping in and lovely handling from Rhys Carre and Olly Hartley allowed Noah Caluori to hurtle down the wing, and unselfishly feeding Charlie Bracken who could run under the posts untouched. On the 49 minute mark, Caluori got his next try. A very flat pass from Rob DP was intercepted by none other than Noah Caluori who could sprint clear and dot down under the sticks. Caluori got his 4th try on 52 minutes. Soft tackling from the Sale backs allowed Fergus Burke to cleanly break the line and his perfect pass found Noah who breezed in. 59-5 and it was quickly becoming an embarrassment for the Mancunians. 4 minutes later he had his 5th. Excellent passing and handling from McFarland (he seems to be returning to his old, destructive best), Max Malins (who showed many signs of the Max of old who we know and love) meant the ball found Caluori. He still had much work to do, but evaded the onrushing Sale defenders and somehow managed to leap into the corner and dot down before his legs touched the whitewash of the dead ball line. Phenomenal finishing from Noah but I feel, at that point, he seemed more embarrassed at the ease of which he’d scored 5 tries. I felt his celebrations and lack thereof demonstrated excellent manners and consideration for the opposition fans. A gentleman he is indeed. Nathan Michelow showed some excellent strength and ability to ride tackles as he burrowed his way over the tryline on 65 minutes. Max Malins joined the tryscoring club, deservingly so as he scored from an opportunistic kick ahead from Nick Tompkins.Him and Angus Hall chased, with Tom O Flaherty making a mess of an attempt at a clearing kick and dropping the ball allowing Max to dot down. Sale got a couple of consolation tries to take their points tally to 19 but Sarries weren’t done just yet. A wonderful dummy from Max Malins allowed him to dance past defnders, offload off the deck to Ben Earl who deservingly got a try for himself as he cantered in under the sticks. Sarries looked for one more to bring the tally to 90 but they had to settle for a 19-85 victory.
Final Word
Just wow. How good were Sarries? Equally, how bad were Sale… It looked as though they’d already gone on holiday mentally and frankly didn’t want to be there. Admittedly Sale had a few injury problems but equally, so have Sarries. That is no excuse for the shambolic performance they laid down yesterday. You can only play the team in front of you though, and Saracens were simply sublime. The real test will be next weekend vs Leicester. A simply must-win game for us. COYS
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:05:04:20:50:40 by Darraghgirl.
It almost feels like Noah has earned himself a Sharks related nickname. Quint? or maybe Brody would be better as he's the one that did for Jaws.
One thing that I think has been slightly lost regarding the Sale performance is that they played Leinster last weekend and even with their weakened team put in a great performance for the first half. The second half got away from then as Leinsters depth told but even so they didn't collapse like yesterday.
That sort of game has to take a huge amount out of you and maybe in part we saw that against us this past weekend.
It was a joyous watch but it's hard to know how much of that will translate against a tougher opponent but I feel as long as the intent, ambition and commitment remain most of us will be happy.
One thing which felt very clear is that for many of our players we'll only ever see the best if we give them the opportunity to use their skills rather than play a style that doesn't get the best out of them. In previous games our attack has kicked away an awful lot of ball in similar positions to ones we fashioned scores from yesterday. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come.
The attack was so nice to watch, waves of players, forwards using deft hands to pull passes back instead of taking contact and getting isolated. It was glorious. Our breakdown work looked much better too, so much more focused.
So happy for Max in particular who looked back to near his best, he may not be the fastest physically but he’s got a wonderfully fast rugby brain which can help make up for that. It was a small moment but his anticipation to provide an offload option for Earl before setting up Caluori’s second was exceptional and he looked like he was really physical taking contact a few times.
The 9/10/12 axis worked beautifully, let’s hope injuries permitting we don’t deviate from that now but scope for a few tweaks outside there to allow for some minutes for J Bracken and Hall.
Tigers will be a bigger indication of where we are but I’m buzzing for next week now, finally back to the StoneX.
vs Saints 24 kicks from hand 598m kicked [www.premiershiprugby.com]
vs Bath 21 kicks from hand 570m kicked [www.premiershiprugby.com]
vs Newcastle 36 kicks from hand 868m kicked [www.premiershiprugby.com]
There's obviously a lot more to it than that (kick pass ratio etc. etc. etc.) but complaining about kicking on it's own is a blind alley. I think you say something about 'kicking away ball' though. In this case with the kicking we either got the ball back from the kick, created a transition opportunity or were in a situation where further actions got the ball back (knock ons, hurried kicks back to us etc)
It's a point I agree with, as we showed a lot more patience on Sunday and were happy to go through the phases - rather than clipping it in behind after 2 or 3 as we have done earlier in the season.
Quote:Sarrov
I took the remark about kicking ball away to relate to the constant grubbers in behind we have tried this season. Daly and Faz being the main culprits.
Precisely.
You could make a case for Hall hanging onto the ball when Malins called for the chip through. It would have been a three on two but in a narrow channel and in that instance I think it's probably the right call but the execution was slightly off. The kick wants to be about half that length or shorter. Instead it was a bit too long and became a foot race which the Sale player won to credit them.
I was good to see Burke in the first twenty pulling several passes at the last moment due to Sale blitzing the centre channel. Maybe it would have worked maybe it wouldn't but that decision-making to carry rather than force it was good to see.
Equally many of those trys on the weekend weren't about set plays but about talented players who read the game well playing the space in front of them and their team mates reacting. Earlier in the season when we made breaks it was such a surprise you'd be lucky if one player was in support. On the weekend there were options in and out.
Of course it will become much harder as the opposition improves and the ball is slowed etc.
The reality is we have to win every game to have an outside chance of getting something from this season.
I'd be very happy with a continuation of the weekends performance regardless of result.
I think it was Jamie in the post match interview talking about how pleased he was with the connectivity in both attack and defence and it's that sort of stuff that converts breaks to tries (and breaks to stops the other way around). Let's see it against Leicester when they go hard at the breakdown!
And why they thought Rob du Preez at full back was a good idea…
Rob dP got totally exposed at fb against Malins, caluori etc I doubt they'll be putting him there again any time soon
In terms of the game I know its usual to target the 10 but we really gave Ford a torrid time. His soak tackling technique not ideal at the best of times but he was the source of so many easy metres.
With so many players out it is harsh to judge their attack which I think is now run by the Fords but it has looked very Saracens of many seasons ago for a while despite his inclusion in the process.
I'd be fascinated to know if it's a question of tailoring it toward the players they already have and presumably what Sanderson wants or if that's the style he's now comfortable with.
Their recruitment looks good for next season but I don't see that young group coming through that we have or a willingness to go a little less % based in their attack.