Sale Continue Wasp Woes

Danny Cipriani led the way for Sale on Friday night, as the Sharks extended Wasps run of now 11 losses in a row in all competitions with a 26-22 victory at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The former Wasps fly half came off the bench to record 21 points for his current club, scoring a try and kicking a further 16 points.

Sale lost last Friday to Newcastle in an incredibly close battle of the two Northern sides, and this week were looking to return to recapture their winning ways against Wasps. 

The London side, who have not yet won a game in this year’s Premiership, and have now lost 11 in a row in all competitions, made the long trip to Manchester desperate for a positive result.

The game’s opening under the lights was understandably tight, as both sides looked to ease into the game, looking almost frightened of making a costly mistake, as both players and fans alike began to realise that it could be a very close game.

The beginning of the half was dominated by poor handling errors and scrums, until Cipriani was brought in as a first half replacement for the injured fly half Nick Macleod on the game’s quarter-way mark.

After entering the game the home side were awarded a penalty which Cipriani duly kicked, opening the scoring 3-0.

The lead lasted for a matter of seconds as Wasps returned through the boot of Andy Goode, who kicked a penalty. 3-3.

After an opening of close play, as both sides looked to size each other up, veteran wing Mark Cueto sparked the game into life with a superb break, bringing the home side deep into the Wasps half for a long period of sustained pressure.

As the home side inched ever closer to the line a drive eventually broke through as Sale looked to have scored the game’s opening try, only to be denied by the TMO, who ruled the ball to be still held up.

However, the Sharks were not denied for long as Cipriani, with a perfectly weighted reverse pass, managed to thread Premiership record try scorer, Mark Cueto, through for the game’s opening try. Cipriani was again involved as he added the extras, to give Sale a 10-3 lead.

A further penalty from Cipriani, minutes later gave Sale a 13-3 lead at the break.

Sale began the stronger side again in the second half, with Cipriani starring again as he dove over the line for his first try of the season after 47 minutes. Cipriani again converted the try to take Sale well out in front with the score 20-3 to the Sharks.

However, the London side were not willing to roll over yet, as they fought back with a driving maul from the pack led to Ashley Johnson touching the ball down and Goode adding the extras. Sale’s lead was now cut back down to 10 points.

There was a change of score again, only minutes later, as Cipriani slotted his third penalty of the night – an incredible kick from the Wasps 10 metre line – to take the margin to 13 points with the final quarter of the game remaining.

Wasps were still not out of the game, however, as a maul was brought down inside the Sale 22, awarding the visiting side with a penalty try that was immediately converted.

With the difference between the sides now only 6 points, Wasps were in the hunt for their first win of the season.

Wasps stretched the home side’s defence on both extremes, with Josh Bassett eventually breaking through to go over the line in the corner. However, Goode again missed a decisive penalty, echoing Wasps’ opening game loss to Harlequins at Twickenham, leaving them still short of Sale.

The Near-miss seemed to resonate through the Sale side who retained possession for the majority of the game from then on; culminating in a last minute penalty for Cipriani to again convert, with a final score line of 26-22.

Wasps are not looking up at the rest of the league, with three losses from three so far this season.
A hugely frustrated Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Young said: "To be honest, I'm hugely disappointed the fight-back didn't come earlier. It took us until the 55th minute of the game before we got back into it”, when he spoke to BBC Sport.

"We could have even sneaked it in the end but that's not good enough. I thought some of our skill levels tonight were embarrassing and that's what I've said to the players.

"We made things very difficult for ourselves by playing in the wrong areas and not fielding simple high kicks. I thought our skill levels tonight were unacceptable."

From the other side of the changing rooms, Sale Director of Rugby, Steve Diamond, added that "We've got a lot of competition in the squad and people have to fight and play in the second team on a Monday night and Danny Cipriani has done that.

"He's come back, come on and done what he does well. He controlled the game with the pack giving him some ball. He played really well, he won us the game.

"Everyone talks about Danny Cipriani but we just want the consistency. He's come on and proved his worth. What he needs to do is do that regularly."

Sale travel to Franklin’s Gardens to face Northampton in another Friday night encounter; whereas Wasps welcome Worcester to the Capital in the home of claiming that elusive first win.

Line-Ups:

Sale Sharks: Arscott; Miller, Cueto, Forsyth, Brady; Macleod, Cliff; Harrison, Taylor, Thomas; Kulemin, Paterson; Braid, Seymour, Beaumont.

Replacements: Mackenzie for Arscott (53), Cipriani for MacLeod (23), Lewis-Roberts for Harrison (62), J. Mills for Kulemin (62), Easter for Beaumont (18). Not Used: Jones, Cobilas, Fowles.

London Wasps: Masi; Wade, Jacobs, C. Bell, Bassett; Goode, Davies; Mullan, Festuccia, Cooper-Wooley; Launchbury, Myall; Johnson, Jones, Jackson.

Replacements: Carlisle for Masi (13), Simpson for Festuccia (47), Hughes for Jackson (50). Not Used: Lindsay, McIntyre, Taylor, Cannon, T. Bell.