Leicester Tigers v Sale: Five takeaways as Handre ‘clutch’ Pollard profits from Sharks’ ‘implosion’ despite George Ford ‘masterclass’
Handre Pollard kicking for Leicester Tigers and Sale Sharks fly-half George Ford.
Following a thrilling 44-34 triumph for Leicester Tigers over Sale Sharks, here are our five takeaways from the Premiership clash at Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Friday.
The top line
Leicester Tigers took a huge step towards securing a play-off place and with it a possible home semi-final after they edged past Sale Sharks in a titanic clash.
It was a wonderful game, full of intensity, physicality, skill and ambition as power was mixed with dexterity in one of the best matches of the season. For the first half, most of the excellence came from the visitors, with George Ford masterminding their game plan.
Sale had the bonus-point wrapped up before the interval with Luke Cowan-Dickie, Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, Arron Reed and Rob du Preez touching down. Adam Radwan’s score and three Handre Pollard penalties were Leicester’s response, but at 26-16 in arrears at the break, Alex Sanderson’s men were very much in control.
This is the time when you find out about your side, however, and Michael Cheika certainly would have been pleased with his team’s reaction. In contrast to the Sharks, whose mistakes and ill-discipline as the pressure ramped up ultimately killed them, Leicester were pretty much error-free.
They went over four times in the second period – Ollie Hassell-Collins and Emeka Ilione both scoring a brace – to secure a crucial victory in the race for the top-four.
Tom Curry concern
With the British and Irish Lions squad now named, everyone is on injury watch, especially with plenty of games still remaining until the end of the northern hemisphere season and the Sale and England flanker was the first to go off with a worrying injury.
Curry was forced to exit the field with what appeared to be a knee injury after taking a knock in the first period. The back-rower did not look in too much discomfort when he departed the action but, with his recent injury record, no doubt there will be concerns for both Sanderson and Andy Farrell. Hopefully it is not too serious and he will be back soon.
Battle of top-class fly-halves
It was a fascinating duel between two players who have been key cogs for South Africa and England respectively as Pollard and George Ford both played a significant part in this wonderful contest.
In the first half, Ford produced a masterclass and manipulated the Leicester defence with his sheer brilliance with ball in hand. He was involved in pretty much everything as the visitors moved into a 10-point lead at the break, assisting tries for Reed and Rob du Preez.
The second period initially continued in the same vein with the Red Rose playmaker dictating proceedings, but his forwards rather let him down. They wasted several good positions and that was when Pollard stepped up.
He had been second best before the break, despite putting in a good display in the first half, but the double Rugby World Cup winner has a habit of stepping up when it matters. His kicking, both out of hand and off the tee, was elite and he made the right decision on pretty much every occasion. He certainly came up clutch for the Tigers.
Match-winners
A lot of what Leicester do well revolves around the set-piece and indeed they were indebted to a magnificent effort from their pack in the second period, but they have also found some outstanding wings.
In the first 50 minutes, the pack struggled against the powerhouse visitors but they had speedsters in Radwan and Hassell-Collins who could produce special moments to keep them in the contest. The latter in particular was exceptional after the break, scoring twice to take the hosts in front just shy of the hour mark – a lead they would not relinquish.
With Sale’s discipline also faltering, that was when the forwards stepped up, with Ollie Chessum showing why he was named in the British and Irish Lions squad. Julian Montoya and Hanro Liebenberg were also superb and they ended up suffocating the Sharks in the final quarter.
Sale’s implosion
As good as Leicester were in the final 40 minutes, the Sharks rather handed them the momentum through a series of errors and ill-discipline in the second period. Sanderson’s side had started the second period as they ended the first by dominating field position, but they failed to take advantage.
Jean-Luc du Preez’s pick up off the back of an advancing scrum five metres out from the Leicester line rather started the rot. Knowing that he had made an error, the back-rower then threw a speculative off-load which ended in a turnover.
A few minutes later and Sale overplayed once again. This time it led to a try for the hosts as Raffi Quirke failed to hold onto an unnecessary off-load and Cheika’s men duly took advantage as Hassell-Collins produced a brilliant finish from Pollard’s cross-field kick.
Speaking of Quirke, the scrum-half had a bit of a shocker when he came on and was twice penalised 10 metres for backchat and holding onto the ball after a penalty. He and Ford were not helped by the leaders in the pack, however, who failed to execute at the set-piece.
