England stars to the fore as Sale win at Newcastle

Gallagher Premiership

Newcastle (10) 15

Tries: Connon Pen: Connon

Sale (27) 39

The England contingent of Sale Sharks dominated in the victory over the Newcastle Falcons with bonus points.

Tom Roebuck caused havoc down the wing while George Ford scored 14 points and added two tries, and Bevan Rodd, a prop, scored a try.

As they resumed Premiership action with a dominant display, Rob du Preez, Tom O’Flaherty, Tadgh McElroy, and Joe Carpenter took the other scores.

The Sharks move up two places to fifth place and one point clear of the playoffs before the rest of the weekend’s games with the five points.

With the exception of Luke Cowan-Dickie and Tom Curry, Alex Sanderson had the luxury of welcoming back five of his seven Six Nations selections to his Sale team.

And it showed as they took control right away, as Rodd, a prop, found the line from 10 meters out with strength and composure after a late Ford penalty.

Neild’s first Newcastle try put the home side ahead, but Sale took control after home fly-half Brett Connon missed a penalty just before halftime to give the score.

In England’s six-day win over Wales, Winger Roebuck showed the strength on display when defenders could not pin him down and his offload started the move that gave Du Preez a first run to the line.

Ford was the Sharks’ central figure throughout, though. He added a stunning comeo to the Principality Stadium, where his quick hands effectively allowed O’Flaherty to score at half-time.

As Sale continued to control their troubled opponents, Irish hooker McElroy added the bonus point when he went over early in the second period.

And they saved their final try, as a sliding Carpenter caused Ford to drop a stunning cross kick, a sign that the fly-half isn’t giving up the fight for the England jersey against younger men like Fin Smith and Marcus Smith.

However, the possibility of the Falcons facing a possible two-legged play-off means that 10th and final spot is off the table for the time being as Championship leaders Ealing Trailfinders fail the necessary criteria to play in the Premiership.

Next Saturday, they travel to the bottom-placed Exeter Chiefs, and Steve Diamond’s men will have a chance to prod the division for the third straight season.

Steve Diamond, a consultant for the Newcastle Falcons, told BBC Sport: “

Credit to Sale, “They occasionally overpowered us, but we didn’t take our chances and were poor in defense.”

We ought to have been more competitive, not less. Although it’s not endeavor, we don’t think clearly when we are under pressure. We occasionally panic.

“We have had tonight, but we haven’t had sharp words in the changing room for a while.”

Director of rugby for Sale Sharks, Alex Sanderson, stated to BBC Sport:

“I’m very pleased,” she said. Because they excel at making it very competitive, this is a challenging place to visit.

Tonight, the boys looked extremely physically aggressive. This week, they trained with confidence, which we have put a lot of effort into over the past few weeks. They appeared to be attempting to score tries.

Fletcher, Rewcastle, Palframan, de Chaves, Leatherbarrow, Davis, Wilkinson, Brown, and others.

Sale: Carpenter, Roebuck, Robinson, Roebuck, Roebuck, McElroy, O’Flaherty, Ford, Warr, Rodd, McElroy, Opoku-Fordjour, Bamber, Hill, van Rhyn, B Curry, JL du Preez, and Roebuck.

Thompson, McIntyre, John, Andrews, Dugdale, Thomas, Bedlow, and Reed as replacements.

Sin-bin: McIntyre (64).