Sale fire a warning as Little wins battle of the boot
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The rejuvenated Sale pulled off a surprise victory on Saturday defeating one of the favourites for the Zurich Premiership title, Bath, 33-32 and sent a strong message to any clubs who might have written them off as no-hopers.
The rejuvenated Sale pulled off a surprise victory on Saturday defeating one of the favourites for the Zurich Premiership title, Bath, 33-32 and sent a strong message to any clubs who might have written them off as no-hopers.
Their new owner, Brian Kennedy, can for now feel that his money has been well-spent over the summer as his new-look side answered all Bath's questions. It also gave the Wigan Warriors winger, Jason Robinson, plenty to think about as he looked on from the stands with his fellow rugby league player, Apollo Perelini. They obviously enjoyed the union show at Heywood Road but not half as much as the Sale supporters who had so much misery last season.
The lead changed hands on a regular basis with the Sale fly-half, Niki Little, and Bath's scrum-half, Jon Preston, exchanging penalties throughout the match.
Bath appeared to have the upper hand as the first half drew to a close thanks to well-taken tries from Rob Thirlby and Matt Perry but with the last touch of the half, the Sale scrum-half, Bryan Redpath, a former Scotland international, scored on his league debut to leave Sale trailing by a point.
The second half saw Sale attacking hard and Little could do nothing wrong with the boot as he edged his side into the lead. Preston kept Bath in touch but it was Steve Hanley's strong run and try which saved the day for Sale. Preston pulled Bath back to within a point of the home side but with the final touch of the game Bath's Mike Catt sent a desperate drop goal sailing off towards the corner flag.
London Irish gained revenge for their pre-season eviction from The Stoop by storming to a 22-16 victory over Harlequins. Quins had chosen to terminate their contract with Irish a year early and force them out of The Stoop but they were made to pay for that decision.
However, their director of rugby, Dick Best, claimed his side's victory was a sloppy early-season display. He warned supporters not to get carried away in the wake of their win. "Last season we failed to kill off teams when chances were presented to us and that resulted in a number of unnecessary defeats," he said.
"Our finishing needs to improve if we are to compete in this division and beat Northampton next week."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments