Rugby Update: Sharks surprise Saracens with 28-22 win
Shark Sale won their first game of the season under the coaching of Pete Anglesea who replaced Mike Brewer two days prior to Christmas. Sale ruled over Saracens with 28-22 victory at Edgeley Park. Last game that Sale played was a complete setback for the
new coach as they were thrashed by Tigers with a huge score difference of 54-21. The Sharks restored their confidence in this game where they looked pretty vigilant in front of home crowd.
Sharks controlled the first half with intelligent leadership of their new captain Mark Cueto. James Gaskell and then Chris Bell adding a third try to the total before the first interval. As far as the Saracens were concerned, in the first half they didn’t
look like the team at third on the table.
Saracens started their game in second half, but couldn’t produce any authentic results to turn the tables and were able to score only one try. Cueto got injured halfway through the second interval and was joined in the side by Andrew Sheridan and Charlie
Hodgson, his fellow England Internationals. James Gaskell was also on the list of players who joined back. Gavin Henson made his first start for almost two years at one position outside his desired inside centre.
Saracens had an early lead with a straightforward penalty taken by Owen Farrell, but Sale hit back pretty soon. Paul Williams moved the ball to the left and then deceptively chipped the ball through for Cueto. Cueto grabbed and made a run for it near the
left corner neatly. Sharks kept on attacking Saracens over the cheers of amused home crowd and Gaskell found a gap on the left five minutes later and scored. The try was approved after a long review of it by the TV referee.
Charlie Hodgson missed his very first conversion effort but later on he was spot on with his kick. The fly half Hodgson extended Sharks lead to 12 points after a penalty from almost the same position. Sharks were creating major problems for Saracens in the
defence and especially by Hodgson who kept on winning penalties. He took his third penalty again near the previous position, which he won by a drop kick in the abrupt build up. Later on, he shot the ball through the posts for the fourth time, but this time
from a front position.
Battle turned out to be totally in favour of Sharks, when they attacked from the right and Bell broke Goode’s tackle. Yet again Hodgson proved to be useful and scored the extras. Saracens worked their way into the Sharks territory and Farrell kicked a simple
penalty. Saracens were standing way behind Sharks before the second half started and the score was 28-9. The opening of second half was much tighter then the first half, when Saracens started to strike back into the Sharks defence. Sale Sharks went into a
defensive mode in the second half and couldn’t put much difference in their total.
On the other hand, Saracens were looking forward to kill the lead and create a deadlock in their territory. Saracens made four changes on field, in the first 13 minutes of the second half. Gavin Henson was called off the field as he couldn’t put much impact
on the opposition. Sisa Koyamaibole, Sale’s number eight went unnoticed for his late tackle on Farrell and was fortunate.
After Cueto being replaced, Saracens scored from down the left. It was finished by James Short under the posts after cleverly deceiving the last defender. Farrell’s fifth penalty ensured an anxious finish for the crowd of 8,646, but anyways their team won
while Saracens had to settle for losing bonus point.
Pete Anglesea believes the victory over a strong team explains a lot and demonstrates the uplift in morale of players since his arrival. Anglesea said,
"It shows in the way the players walk around, you can see that their body language has changed." The coach looked very content and satisfied, he further added,
"The attitude today was fantastic for me because I think there was one stage where we had a scrum about 13 minutes before half-time.”
Mark McCall, Saracens coach praised the state of play displayed by Sale Sharks.
"Today we came across a very, very motivated Sale Sharks team, who were outstanding in the tackle area, outstanding in the physical exchanges and were better than us."
he said. He further sympathized with Gavin Henson’s very short time with the ball. "Gavin didn't see a lot of ball," Mark McCall added.
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