Sale fall just short against Toulouse
Sale Sharks threatened to ruin the party for Toulouse but in the end, thanks to a 19-13 win away from home at Edgeley Park, the French giants secured themselves a home Heineken Cup quarterfinal draw.
A tight contest, Sale found their second wind in the final 20 minutes of the match and almost snatched away from Guy Noves’ side.
Knowing they needed a win to secure their spot in the next round Toulouse adopted a pretty conservative approach early in the game, forgoing style and attacking intent, choosing rather to go for a professional, win at all costs, mindset.
A fantastic start for Sale with flyhalf Charlie Hodgson showing a fantastic range of passing. A former Top 14 star Sisa Koyamaibole set the tone with an early storming run down the left before, feeling the pressure, Toulouse conceded a penalty.
Opting not to go for three points, Hodgson kicked for the corner.
Only some brilliant defensive work from the visitors kept the Sharks at bay but, predictably, another penalty was not far away. This time Hodgson accepted the chance to go for three gladly.
Toulouse responded well to the early pressure and were quickly on the front foot themselves. Koyamaibole soon turned villain and was yellow carded for taking out Jean-Baptiste Elissalde on the side of a ruck.
With a man advantage Toulouse were suddenly enjoying the Lions share of possession and leveled the scores with an Elissalde drop goal on 10 minutes.
Hodgson restored Sale to the lead with a penalty five minutes later as the match, while scrappy at time, was proving to be a tight contest early on.
Both teams had half chances but slowly the Toulouse forward pack was starting to dictate much of the match. Using close drives and well executed mauls, they continued to put the pressure on their hosts.
Chris Jones then was the next player to see yellow – the victim of ‘repeat offences’, the second row was sent to the bin by Allain Rolland just three minutes short of half time.
With good possession inside the Sale 22m area Toulouse took the option to level the scores with another Elissalde drop goal from close range.
The second half could not have started worse for the home side. An error from fullback Nick MacLeod gave Toulouse a lineout just five metres from the Sale tryline.
Using the lineout drive which had been so successful in the first half, the French side created the gap for Virgile Lacombe to storm through and score for the visitors.
Leading 13-6 just four minutes into the second period the signs were ominous for the Sharks. Only a great last ditch tackle of Hodgson prevented a try for Vincent Clerc but the pressure, without a doubt, was mounting on the home side.
Some nice interplay between David Doherty and Richard Wigglesworth created some space down the left for the England scrumhalf. A little chip forward saw him collide with Clerc. The French wing was shown a yellow card for using no arms.
Despite now having the man advantage it was Sale who conceded next. A penalty right in front, Elissalde easily extended Toulouse’s lead.
The introduction of Andy Tuilagi gave Sale a new dimension in attack. Like all Tuilagi’s, the inside centre showed great strength with the ball in hand and helped Sale get some go-forward ball which they had been looking for all afternoon.
Ultimately though it was Tuilagi’s centre partner who provided the much needed blow for Sale.
Some good work across the pitch got Matthew Tait one-on-one with Thierry Dusautoir. With space on his side Tait went around the French captain and was able to carry three tackles over the time. Conversion successful, Toulouse had just a three point lead.
Elissalde, after shaking off a knock, eased Toulouse’s concerns somewhat with a penalty ten minutes from time but with the gap still less than seven points the home fans continued to believe that they might snatch it at the death.
Sale had their chance to put some real pressure on Toulouse with a lineout five metres from the visitors’ line. It was not to be though. Bravely, Toulouse threw up two pods and snatched the lineout, allowing replacement No.9 Byron Kelleher to clear.
It was a good display from the home side but in the end it was a case of job done for Toulouse. By no means their best performance of the season, but it was enough.
The Scorers
For Sale
Try: Tait
Pen: Hodgson 2
Cons: Hodgson
For Toulouse
Try: Lacombe
Pen: Elissalde 2
DG: Elissalde 2
Cons: Elissalde
The teams:
Sale: 15 Nick Macleod, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Johnny Kennedy, 11 David Doherty, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Luke Abraham, 6 James Gaskell, 5 Dean Schofield, 4 Chris Jones, 3 Martin Halsall, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Eifion Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Rob O’Donnell, 18 Gavin Kerr, 19 Sean Cox, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Andy Tuilagi, 23 Oriol Ripol.
Toulouse: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Yann David , 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 9 Frédéric Michalak, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 6 Grégory Lamboley, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Benoit Lecouls, 2 Virgile Lacombe, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 William Servat, 17 Yohan Montes, 18 Daan Human, 19 Shaun Sowerby, 20 Jean Bouilhou, 21 Maxime Medard, 22 Byron Kelleher, 23 Florian Fritz.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Simon McDowell (Ireland), Mark Hermin (Ireland)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
