George Ford inspires Sale Sharks to gutsy win over Harlequins

12 points from the boot of George Ford inspired Sale Sharks to an edgy 12-11 victory over Harlequins at the Salford Community Stadium, ensuring they carried on their winning form from last season into the new campaign.

Whilst all the points came from the England international, Sale could easily have had a hatful of tries; but they lacked the clinical edge when it mattered most.

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A string of Sale errors and ill-discipline gifted Harlequins a golden chance in the opening five minutes; however just as Stephen Lewies looked to cross the whitewash, the towering lock spilled the ball and the Sharks got off scot-free.

With the conditions taking their toll on proceedings, the scrum became a key battleground. Back-to-back Sale penalties in this area marched them down into Quins territory, allowing Ford to open the scoring with an easy three-pointer off the tee.

Sale seemed to be getting the upper hand in the contest, and they nearly went over for the opening try. Solid pick-and-goes from the forwards bashed through the Quins defence, but just as it looked like Sale were going a sloppy penalty at the breakdown halted them in their tracks.

They couldn’t be contained forever, and a costly offside from Will Evans gave Ford a chance to extend their lead from the tee; which he gleefully took.

Quins needed to strike quickly to halt the gathering Sale storm, and they did just that as Jack Walker crossed. A powerful driving maul motored towards the Sharks line, and the England international flopped over for the score.

Leigh Halfpenny and Ford exchanged three-pointers in the closing stages of the half, giving Sale a slender one-point advantage going into the sheds.

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With the game evenly poised, you felt the next score was crucial; and Quins came within whiskers of getting it. Another solid maul worked Quins to within inches of the Sharks line, but Jack Kenningham was held up over the line and Sale escaped yet again.

The Sharks nearly made them pay for it too. Playing with a penalty advantage, Ford put in a delicious cross-field kick for Tom Roebuck, but the ball was just out of the outstretched winger’s arms. They were still encamped in the Quins five meter though, but the greasy conditions took their toll and a knock-on gave the visitors a momentary reprieve.

The dancing feet of Jean-Luc du Preez allowed Sale to once again set up shop deep in Quins’ territory, but just three phases later a superb turnover from Will Evans again sent them packing.

Another spat of London ill-discipline allowed the hosts to get within striking distance of the line, but yet again Evans popped up with another pivotal turnover to relieve the pressure.

Despite the dominance of the hosts, it was actually the boot of Halfpenny which broke the second-half stalemate, as he slotted a long-range penalty to put his side in front for the first time in the game.

This lead lasted merely moments though, as Ford knocked over his fourth penalty of the game to restore his side’s one-point advantage with just six minutes to go.

A late turnover from Kenningham gave Quins renewed hope with the clock in the red; however as with much of the game a knock-on gifted the ball back to the Sharks, who punted the ball into touch to cement the win.

The teams

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu, 12 Rob du Preez, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 James Harper, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Ben Bamber, 21 Sam Dugdale, 22 Nye Thomas, 23 Will Addison

Harlequins: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Nick David, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Lennox Anyanwu, 11 Oscar Beard, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Will Porter, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Dino Lamb, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Cassius Cleaves

Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Greg Macdonald
TMO: Andrew Jackson

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