Robinson falls foul of referee's harsh call

Sale could be forgiven if they blamed referee Nigel Williams for this defeat, but in truth it was their own inability to finish off the chances they created – though Bourgoin's defence was quite magnificent.

With Sale leading 15-10 after nine minutes of the second half, Jason Robinson had his clearance kick charged down. As the ball drifted into goal, Robinson chased back shoulder-to-shoulder with replacement prop, William Bonet. Now little Jason doesn't often get beaten for pace by props, but Bonet first impeded Robinson, before the Sale full back replied in kind. Williams believed Robinson to be the guilty party, and awarded a penalty try as well as yellow-carding Robinson. To say it was a harsh call is a considerable understatement. On such little things do tight matches hinge.

No French coach is better qualified than Philippe Saint-André to draw a meaningful comparison between the club game in England and France. Having been director of rugby at Gloucester before leaving for Bourgoin last February, Saint-Andre declared recently that standards in the Premiership are considerably higher than in the French Championship. Moreover, with a team rebuilding job in hand, Saint-André is holding out no great hopes for Bourgoin in Europe, who have won away only once in the two seasons in which they have participated in the Heineken Cup

One of the things Saint-André learnt at Kingsholm was the need to start forward. With a solid front three and a back row containing Arnaud Costes and Sebastien Chabal, the Bourgoin pack were taking no prisoners. Any doubts about their collective effectiveness were dispelled on the half hour when they drove the Sale pack into oblivion at a five-metre scrum to be awarded a penalty try and level the scores at 10-10.

Until then Sale had the better of things. Robinson scored his first try of the season which Nick Walshe converted before adding a penalty.

Turning round five points to the good after Steve Hanley's try, Sale would have been further in profit had Walshe not failed with three penalties. There was worse to come. After Pierre Caillet crossed for a try, Walshe had an opportunity to reduce Sale's six-point deficit, but was again off-target. Despite a thunderous late rally, Sale were unable to press home their numerical advantage, when Bonet was sin-binned, so Bourgoin escaped.

Sale: Tries: Hanley, Robinson. Conversions: Walshe. Penalties: Walshe (2) Bourgoin: Tries: Penalty Tries (2), Caillet. Conversions: Boyet (3). Penalty: Peclier.

Sale: J Robinson (V Going, 60); M Cueto, J Baxendell (D Harris, h-t), M Deane, S Hanley; N Walshe, B Redpath (capt); J Thorp ( K Yates, 57), A Titterrell (C Marais, 57), B Stewart (S Turner, 68), C Jones, D Schofield (A Perelini, 65), A Sanderson, S Pinkerton, P Anglesea.

Bourgoin: B Boyet; E Tuni, G Davis, D Venditti (L Pesteil, 67), A Forest; A Peclier, M Forest (S Bonnet, 63); T Mazet (W Bonet, 43), J Djoubi, P Peyron, P Raschi (S Fischer, 77), L Nallet (capt), J Bonnaire, S Chabal, A Costes (P Caillet, 54).

Referee: N Williams (Wales).