Sale Hold On For Gloucester Upset

A late drop goal from Sale’s Joe Ford secured a surprise 22-16 victory for the Sharks over Gloucester away at Kingsholm on Saturday.

The Manchester side, who were destroyed 43-6 this time, last year in their season opener with Exeter Chiefs, were looking to start the season with a good result.

Last year’s start to the season began a run of poor performances, with seven successive Premiership defeats landing the side in a relegation battle for the most part of a disappointing season.

Gloucester, on the other hand, who finished fifth in last year’s Premiership, now looking to challenge for a play-off position, lacked continuity against the Sharks.

If Sale is to continue performances such as this, the season will be considerably more precarious for Manchester fans than last year; although, Gloucester had a part to play, with a disappointing performance on the day.

Sale began the first half the better side, building a lead that they would never relinquish. Fly half Nick Macleod kicked a simple penalty, and combined with Dwayne Peel to send veteran winger and club record try-scorer, Mark Cueto, through the Gloucester line for the game’s opening try.

Freddie Burns, who has had better days at fly half, added a penalty; however, Tom Arscott added two long distance kicks to increase the Sharks lead to 14-3 at the interval.

To make matters worse prop Nick Wood was sin-binned for the Cherry and Whites before half time for an infringement in the ruck.

Sale again began the stronger side, with Cueto nudging a kick through for Andy Forsyth to latch onto and score in the corner. Despite calls of off-side, the decision was reviewed and accepted by the Television Match official.

Adding to the dismay of the home side, England centre Billy Twelvetrees was then sin-binned for a dangerous tackle. There was fight left in the Gloucester side, however, as Henry Trinder made a superb break from nowhere to bring the score to 19-10.

Having converted the try, the final 10 minutes were hugely competitive, as Burns scored a further two penalties. Sale secured the impressive opening win with a Joe Ford drop goal.

Sharks director of Rugby, Steve Diamond, told The Daily Telegraph that "I think we played better than them in the first half and though they edged us in the second half, we showed enough character to hang on.

"The pundits will always have their say about us, but with our new stadium where we won seven games at the end of the season, we have got a bit of a home record going."

Sale will play their first home game next weekend when they welcome Newcastle to their Salford City Stadium; whereas Gloucester’s season will not get any easier with a trip to Saracens’ Allianz Park.

Line-Ups:

Gloucester: Cook; Sharples, Trinder, Twelvetrees, Simpson-Daniel; Burns, Robson; Wood, Dawidiuk, Harden, Savage (capt), Lokotui, Kalamafoni, Kvesic, Morgan.

Replacements: Knoyle for Robson (58), George for Dawidiuk (63), Y. Thomas for Harden (58), Stooke for Lokotui (64), Murphy for Morgan (48). Not Used: Qera, Tindall, M. Thomas.

Sale: Arscott; McKenzie, Forsyth, Leota, Cueto; MacLeod, Peel; Roberts, Jones, Thomas, Mills, Paterson, Braid (capt), Seymour, Gaskell.

Replacements: Ford for MacLeod (60), Harrison for Lewis-Roberts (49), Cobilas for Thomas (72), Kulemin for Mills (72).
Not Used: Taylor, Beaumont, Cliff, Miller.