Sale Sharks secure vital bonus-point win over Northampton to keep play-off hopes alive
Northampton Saints 14 Sale Sharks 34
Sale Sharks kept their hopes alive of reaching the Premiership play-offs but this bonus-point victory over Northampton may have come at a significant cost for England, with both Manu Tuilagi and Courtney Lawes sustaining serious-looking injuries that may threaten their participation for the return of the Six Nations next month.
Eddie Jones, the England head coach, is due to name a preliminary squad on Monday for a training camp ahead of the match against the Barbarians in just over three weeks’ time and ahead of the final match of the Six Nations against Italy on Oct 31 and the loss of two key players would be a major disruption his plans.
Tuilagi lasted just 12 minutes before he sustained an injury to his Achilles in his left leg as the England centre, who started three out of the four Six Nations games before the Covid-19 lockdown, was tackled by Fraser Dingwell and Dan Biggar as he carried the ball following a scrum in Sale’s half.
"I don’t think it is clever, I don’t think it is the best,” said Steve Diamond, the Sale Sharks director of rugby.
“We took some big bruising hits and Manu, I think it is his Achilles but we don't know until tomorrow. I don't think he will be in contention for the weekend but it goes with the territory."
Lawes meanwhile had already been forced to retire from the contest three minutes earlier after he collided with Sale lock Cobus Wiese as he attempted to contest Tom Curry for a ball in the air.
The Northampton forward’s foot appeared to stick in the turf as he buckled under his own weight and his right ankle was afterwards strapped into a support boot.
"He has an ankle injury and it looks pretty ginger,” said Chris Boyd, the Northampton director of rugby. “I wouldn't be overly hopeful of a fast return - he sustained a fairly heavy blow on the ankle.
"He will go off tomorrow to get a scan and it is unfortunate for Courtney and maybe in the short term unfortunate for England."
It was another wretched night for Northampton, who have now lost seven successive defeats at home and 12th out of their last 14 games.
The victory for Sale in contrast extended their lead ahead of fifth-placed Bristol, who play Leicester on Wednesday night, to five points and brought them to within one behind third-placed Bath and of the final round of the regular campaign on Sunday.
The bonus point had been secured before the first half was out, with two tries by Luke James, a penalty try and a fourth by Simon Hammersley.
The first score set the tone, with Sale using their power with a drive by Jean-Luc du Preez drive and a surge by Curtis Langdon drive creating the momentum before Rob du Preez’s long pass enabled James to run over unopposed.
The second try was more straightforward, with Saints conceding a penalty try when they brought down a driving maul from a line-out after three attempts by Sale and Apisalome Ratuniyarawa was sent to the sin bin.
Going down to 14 men brought the best moment of the half for Saints, with a brilliantly executed move seeing Dan Biggar put Ahsee Tuala on a brilliant line to slice through the Sharks’ defence for a try.
Yet Sale were relentless, and their ability to convert pressure into points in the Northampton 22 was giving a helping hand by an error by Biggar, who completely missed with his attempt to gather a chip ahead by Luke James and the Sale full-back was able to ground the ball over the line unopposed.
Sale’s ability to make ground through the hands then created the opportunity for Hammersley to score the fourth in the left-hand corner.
With Du Preez missing three kicks and Flaf de Klerk one, there was still a lifeline for Saints however and when Alex Mitchell darted over for a try with a show and go, it made the game more of a tussle than it should have been.
But a fifth try by Rohan Janse van Rensburg in the left-hand corner settled the contest in the 72nd minute before Valeri Morozov went over for a sixth.
