Sale Sharks player ratings: England star wins aerial duel against Rieko Ioane while pack puts in huge shift but lineout ‘destroyed’ by Leinster
Jacques Vermeulen and Sam Dugdale in action for Sale Sharks against Leinster in the Champions Cup.
Following a 43-13 defeat to Leinster in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, here are the player ratings for Sale Sharks.
15 Joe Carpenter: Solid in the air and chased well, but unfortunately had to go off at half-time. 6
14 Tom Roebuck: Easily won the aerial battle with Rieko Ioane and that, to a degree, kept them in the contest. Didn’t get too many other opportunities with Sale kicking so much ball. 6
13 Rob du Preez: Some nice reads in defence in the first half as that Sharks defence generally held firm, but got it wrong for Leinster’s second try, and that opened the floodgates. 6
Sale’s biggest threat
12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White: Once again, was comfortable at this level and is certainly a player Steve Borthwick should be looking at. Easily the visitors’ most potent threat, while he also did some excellent work in defence, forcing the Irish province into errors and winning a counter-ruck turnover. 7
11 Tom O’Flaherty: Struggled against Tommy O’Brien and then had an even tougher day when moving to full-back following Carpenter’s withdrawal. An excellent player, but had a very tough day at the office. 4
10 George Ford: Executed the game plan well in the first half and we know he can find holes in the defence, but the Sharks were so conservative that they never really tried to play any rugby. 6
9 Gus Warr: In fairness to Ford, when it came to speeding up the game, it didn’t help that he had Warr alongside him. The scrum-half was far too slow at the breakdown and stifled any momentum they could generate. 4
8 Dan du Preez: Physical and abrasive, but got himself a silly yellow card at the end of the first half, and the Irishmen took advantage by touching down early in the second period. 6
Absolute workhorses
7 Sam Dugdale: Would probably be getting more praise if it weren’t for the Currys. Dugdale never shies away from anything and was everywhere. 7
6 Jacques Vermeulen: Mammoth for 50 or so minutes before Leinster took command. Was brutal in contact and forced the hosts into errors, which he was combative at the breakdown. 8
5 Ben Bamber: A huge shift from the big lock, but the lineout was absolutely destroyed by the hosts, albeit it did not help that they were down to their third choice hooker. 6
4 Ernst van Rhyn (c): Similar to Bamber, can’t doubt his work ethic, but they struggled in the lineout with hookers Luke Cowan-Dickie and Nathan Jibulu out. 6
3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour: Took advantage of Leinster’s loosehead crisis by dominating both opposition props, while he put in a real shift in the loose. 7
2 Ethan Caine: It was perhaps expected, given that Cowan-Dickie and Jibulu were both absent, but Caine really struggled. Lack physicality around the field, too. 3
1 Si McIntyre: Fine showing from the experienced and underrated prop as he gave Tadhg Furlong a tough time up front. Got yellow-carded for getting a tackle wrong, but that doesn’t count against him too much, given the platform he set in the first half. 6
Replacements: As expected, it was rather too much to ask for the bench. Alex Wills was great in the air, but that reshuffle in the back three ultimately hampered Sale. Dom Hanson added more zip than Warr, but the rest couldn’t wrestle momentum from the Leinster machine. 4