Bok scores big as Sharks stay in play-off race
SATURDAY WRAP: Sale Sharks remain in the hunt for a top-four place after they overcame fellow play-off hopefuls Gloucester 26-24 at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday.
In an entertaining encounter, the Sharks went into the break 19-12 ahead thanks to tries from Francois de Klerk, AJ MacGinty and Jean-Pierre du Preez.
The Cherry and Whites remained in contention, however, as Santiago Socino touched down twice, but the game appeared to be slipping away when Jean-Luc Du Preez crossed the whitewash for the hosts.
Sale was in complete control but a Charlie Chapman intercept got the visitors back into the game before Louis Hillman-Cooper set up an exciting finale.
However, the home side held on for the win.
Having endured a nightmare first half in last week’s clash against Exeter Chiefs, the Sharks were determined to put that right.
In windy conditions, they controlled the aerial battle early on, with Arron Reed always a threat running on to De Klerk’s box-kicks, and they deservedly took the lead.
It was the scrumhalf who went over but most of the good work was done by Dan Du Preez after the number eight charged through the middle and sent his fellow Springbok across the whitewash.
Unperturbed by that setback, the Cherry and Whites hit back with their first real foray into opposition territory. The hosts conceded a string of penalties and that allowed the visitors to build using their trusty maul.
Their line-out drive has been a potent weapon all season and the Sharks were powerless to stop it as Socino crossed the whitewash.
George Barton’s conversion gave George Skivington’s men the lead but they did not hold onto it for long as the home side regained their five-point buffer.
Sale got quick ball close to the Gloucester line and eventually MacGinty went over to provide his side with a 10-7 advantage.
The fly-half was injured in the process of scoring, however, meaning that De Klerk took on kicking duties, but the South African made no mistake from the tee.
Gloucester had struggled for territory and possession but they are a resilient and clinical outfit and once more they responded when an opportunity presented itself.
Again it was the maul that did the damage as Socino completed his brace to level matters after half-an-hour.
It was proving to be a see-saw first half and just shy of the interval the Sharks had the lead for the third time when Jean-Pierre du Preez touched down to move them 19-12 ahead at the break.
The Sharks took that momentum into the second period when they secured the bonus point. Luke James made the initial incursion before replacement Sam Hill took it on further and Jean-Luc Du Preez eventually finished off a fine attack.
Alex Sanderson’s men were the dominant outfit and were pressing for the try that would surely end the game as a contest, but an utterly brainless De Klerk pass – and a brilliant read from Chapman – saw the Gloucester man intercept and run the distance to get his team back into the contest.
It almost changed the course of the match as a few minutes later the Cherry and Whites were just two points in arrears when Hillman-Cooper crossed the whitewash and Barton converted.
But to Sale’s credit, they managed the latter stages well and duly claimed a priceless victory in the hunt for the play-offs.
* In Other Saturday action Saracens saw off a spirited Newcastle Falcons side to claim a 36-21 bonus point win.
* Curtis Rona’s first-half red card derailed London Irish’s bid to become the first team in 12 matches to defeat Leicester at Mattioli Woods Welford Road as they were beaten 47-28.
* Worcester wing Alex Hearle scored a hat-trick of tries as the Warriors edged a breathtaking game of nine tries 35-31 against Exeter at Sixways.
All Saturday’s scores and scorers!
Worcester Warriors 35-31 Exeter Chiefs
The scorers
For Worcester Warriors
Tries: Hearle 3, Heward, Doel
Cons: Smith 5
For Exeter Chiefs
Tries: Grondona, O’Flaherty, Innard, Norey, Ewers
Cons: Simmonds 3
The teams:
Worcester: 15 Noah Heward, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Oli Morris, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Alex Hearle, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ted Hill (captain), 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Murray McCallum.
Replacements: 16 Isaac Miller, 17 Kai Owen, 18 Jack Owlett, 19, Justin Clegg, 20 Jack Forsythe, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Harri Doel.
Exeter: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds (captain), 9 Sam Maunder, 8 Santiago Grondona, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Don Armand, 4 Jannes Kirsten, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Max Norey, 17 James Kenny, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Will Witty, 20 Richard Capstick, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Facundo Cordero.
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Rob Warburton, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Tom Foley
Leicester Tigers 47-28 London Irish
The scorers
For Leicester Tigers
Tries: Nadolo 2, Scott, Potter, Reffell, Ashton, Penalty try
Cons: Burns 5, penalty try does not require a conversion
For London Irish
Tries: Janse van Rensburg, Arundell, Cornish
Cons: Jackson
Pens: Jackson 3
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Bryce Hegarty, 14 Harry Potter, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg (captain), 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 James Whitcombe.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Nephi Leatigaga, 19 Calum Green, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Matías Moroni, 23 Chris Ashton.
London Irish: 15 James Stokes, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Benhard van Rensburg, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps (captain), 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Chunya Munga, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke.
Replacements: 16 Matt Cornish, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Matt Rogerson, 21 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 22 Hugh O’Sullivan, 23 Henry Arundell.
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Jonathan Healy, Simon Harding
TMO: Dan Jones
Newcastle Falcons 21-36 Saracens
The scorers
For Newcastle Falcons
Tries: McGuigan 2
Con: Haydon-Wood
Pens: Haydon-Wood 3
For Saracens
Tries: Woolstencroft, Obatoyinbo, Segun, Goode, Penalty try
Con: Goode 3, penalty try does not require a conversion
Pen: Goode
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 George Wacokecoke, 12 Pete Lucock, 11 Nathan Earle, 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Callum Chick (captain), 7 Josh Basham, 6 Sean Robinson, 5 Rob Farrar, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Mark Tampin, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Trevor Davison.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Maddison, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 20 Will Montgomery, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Max Wright.
Saracens: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Alex Goode (captain), 9 Aled Davies, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Theo McFarland, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Tom Woolstencroft, 1 Richard Barrington.
Replacements: 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Andy Christie, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Dom Morris, 23 Alex Lewington.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, John Meredith
TMO: David Rose
Sale Sharks 26-24 Gloucester
The scorers
For Sale Sharks
Tries: De Klerk, MacGinty, JL du Preez, JP du Preez
Con: De Klerk 3
For Gloucester
Tries: Socino 2, Chapman, Hillman-Cooper
Cons: Barton 2
The teams:
Sale: 15 Luke James, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Robert du Preez, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Arron Reed, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (captain), 5 Jean-Pierre du Preez, 4 Jean-Luc du Preez, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Tommy Taylor, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Connor Doherty, 23 Jack Metcalf.
Gloucester: 15 Kyle Moyle, 14 Santiago Carreras, 13 Tom Seabrook, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 George Barton, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Harry Elrington.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18 Bryan O’Connor, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Louis Hillman-Cooper, 23 Alex Morgan.
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: George Selwood, Phil Watters
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Sources: PA & RugbyPass
