Sale player ratings: Bench almost rescues Sharks after ‘dismal’ set-piece performance from England duo
Luke Cowan-Dickie in action for Sale Sharks.
Following a 21-16 defeat to Leicester Tigers in the Premiership semi-final at Welford Road on Saturday, here are the player ratings for Sale Sharks.
15 Joe Carpenter: On a day when aerial surety was an essential, Carpenter came off very much second best in his duel with Freddie Steward. Struggled with Tigers’ kicking game and Sale are used to much more from him. 4
15 Tom Roebuck: Like Carpenter, he failed to make an impression in the airways, and conceded four turnovers from his fumbled work. Reports suggest he was not at full fitness in this match and it showed. 4
13 Rob du Preez: The heartbeat of Sale gave it his all. He had his hands full defending against Solomone Kata, but when the chance arrived he struck with thunderclap surprise to put Sale within touching distance with his well taken try. 7
Set to tour Argentina
12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White: Absolutely tireless both sides of the ball and probably Sale’s best player for 80 minutes. 17 thundering carries and some clever work in defence means he can walk away with his head held high and there’s little doubt he’ll be jetting westwards with England to tour The Americas this summer. 7
11 Arron Reed: Some poor handling under pressure and folded in far too many times in defence. Reed has been a star of Sale’s season but he struggled to impose himself in the manner he has in previous matches. 4
10 George Ford: A subdued first half and a much better second, Ford did everything he could to get his side home. But it’s big games like this that expose his lack of personal threat with ball in hand and he struggled to open the Tigers defence either through speed or footwork. 6
9 Raffi Quirke: In the battle of the new England nines, Quirke ceded the contest to his opposite number. At times he looked too forced and too error prone. He’s a lot better player than we saw in this game and hopefully he can now look forward to an injury free run. 5
8 Jean-Luc du Preez: But for Steward’s brilliant tackle, he might now be celebrating a match-winning try. Struggled with the intensity of Tigers early doors but kept on trucking his 120kg forward. An essential man for the Sharks. 7
7 Ben Curry: Some moments that demonstrated his potential, but overall, he found the waves of green, red and white too much for even him to repel. Gave it his all and has had a great season, but never really imposed himself on this match. 6
6 Tom Curry: Some big moments in the first half, and faded slightly in the second, but you have to wonder just how many injuries he’s carrying. England’s warrior drained his tank in defeat and you only hope that he gets the chance for some R&R before the British and Irish Lions tour. 7
Set-piece struggles
5 Jonny Hill: Some moments of bristle and bosh towards the end, but comfortably schooled by his opposite number, Ollie Chessum. Was Sale’s only 100% man in the lineout though. Sharks will miss his enforcing presence as Hill heads to France. 5
4 Ernst van Rhyn: Pinpointed by Tigers on his own lineout ball, Van Rhyn lost two crucial throws which took a lot of momentum away from Sale, one in a very promising attacking position. Rumbled powerfully all afternoon but his set-piece blunders see him marked down. 4
3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour: One of his worst scrummaging performances in a long time as Nicky Smith really dug into him. His exposure, and the lack of a set-piece platform for Sale in the first half, was a really important aspect of the game. The prop will learn from today and showed some deft footwork in the loose, but a tighthead is paid to scrummage and he fell well short of the mark in that regard. 3
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie: An absolutely dismal performance from the England hooker at lineout time as Tigers picked off five of his throws, four with clean steals and one from an overthrow. However, around the park, he showed real warrior spirit in a showing that defines the term ‘curate’s egg’. 4
1 Bevan Rodd: Struggled manfully with Joe Heyes whilst his tighthead was being melted on the other side and came back to win a couple of penalties. A quality outing around the park where he completed 16 tackles, 12 carries and two turnovers, but like Opoku-Fordjour, propping starts with scrummage stability. On balance, a fair day’s work. 6
Replacements: A magnificent shift in both the tight and the loose from WillGriff John who put an end to all of the stability issues at scrum time. Gus Warr added pragmatism and intellect at nine, Ben Bamber changed the dynamic at the lineout and Dan du Preez came on and simply did Du Preez things. The bench impact was the main reason that Sale were able to push this game so deep after they were so palpably outplayed in the first half. 8
