Sale 33-7 Toulon: Sale Sharks Player Ratings after dominant win secure Champions Cup progression
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Sale Sharks secured a third-placed finish in their Champions Cup pool with an essential bonus point win over Toulon at the Salford Community Stadium.
With Toulon having already qualified in the top two places of the pool and Sale needing a bonus point victory to avoid falling into either the Challenge Cup or out of Europe completely, it started off as a cagey affair with the French side holding back offensively and Sharks unable to break them down.
The game looked to be heading towards a rare 0-0 scoreline going into half time, but a lovely move that started in Sale's own half, zigzagged across from right to left to right again with some quick ball that left Tom Roebuck with only one defender to beat before he dotted down and helped Alex Sanderson's team to a 7-0 lead going into the second period.
Whatever Sanderson and his coaching staff said at half time worked because it finally opened up for the home side after the break, when Ben Curry was set free and chipped the ball over the last man to collect and double their advantage just under ten minutes into the half.
Things got even better, and just before the hour mark, prop Bevan Rodd dived through to put the Sharks within one score of their desired bonus point.
Tom O'Flaherty burst through only minutes later, showing great pace against Paolo Garbisi to secure the five-point haul and progression into the next round.
It wouldn't be plain sailing as a Toulon break led to Jules Coulon having an easy score shortly after, but Tom Curry eased any sort of doubt with a deftly clipped kick past the last man, in similar fashion to his brother, which Roebuck collected nicely to round off a strong home victory.
Sale Sharks: 33
Starting XV
15. Joe Carpenter 14. Tom Roebuck 13. Rob du Preez 12. Rekeiti Ma'asi White 11. Tom O'Flaherty 10. George Ford 9. Raffi Quirke; 1. Bevan Rodd 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour 4. Jean-Luc du Preez 5. Hyron Andrews 6. Tom Curry 7. Ben Curry (c) 8. Dan du Preez
Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine 17. Si McIntyre 18. WillGriff John 19. Ben Bamber 20. Ernst van Rhyn 21. Nye Thomas 22. Sam Bedlow 23. Arron Reed
TRIES: Tom Roebuck 39' 75' Ben Curry 50' Bevan Rodd 60' Tom O'Flaherty 62'
CONVERSIONS: George Ford 40' 51' 61' Rob du Preez 76'
PENALTIES:
DROP GOALS:
YELLOW CARDS: Rob du Preez 80'
RED CARDS:
Toulon: 7
Starting XV
15. Rayan Rebbadj 14. Juita Wainiqolo 13. Antoine Frisch 12. Jeremy Sinzelle 11. Gabin Villiere 10. Dan Biggar 9. Ben White; 1. Jean-Baptiste Gros 2. Gianmarco Lucchesi 3. Emerick Setiano 4. Matthias Halagahu 5. Swan Rebbadj 6. Lewis Ludlam 7. Jules Coulon 8. Selevasio Tolofua
Replacements:
16. Mickael Ivaldi 17. Dany Priso 18. Davit Mtcheslidze 19. David Ribbans 20. Yannick Youyoutte 21. Esteban Abadie 22. Baptiste Serin 23. Paolo Garbisi
TRIES: Jules Coulon 67'
CONVERSIONS: Paolo Garbisi 67'
PENALTIES: 0
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 0
RED CARDS: 0
Player Ratings
15 Joe Carpenter 7
Collected the high ball well on numerous occasions, with multiple huge kicks to ease some pressure.
Led from the back nicely but did not provide too much in the way of running with the ball in hand.
14 Tom Roebuck 8
A couple of tidily finished tries and in general put himself in very advantageous positions multiple times.
Could have had another if he managed to keep the ball under control after a grubber kick out wide.
13 Rob du Preez 7.5
Involved in a lot overall with his only real blemish being a late yellow card, but that occured right at the death so didn't have a huge say on the game. Quality running and some cultured kicking in his 150th appearance for the club. Showed yet again why he is one of the most underrated players in the Premiership.
12 Rekeiti Ma'asi White 6.5
Decent running overall but not the biggest of impacts. A couple of tidy line breaks that put his side in decent positions that they worked good moves off the back of. Did not disgrace himself by any stretch of the imagination but was not involved in a huge amount.
11 Tom O'Flaherty 7.5
Burst through with immense pace to secure the bonus point. Grew into the game after a slightly shaky and slippery start that led many to be fearing the worst early on. Showed good agility throughout with a couple of nice offloads.
10 George Ford 7.5
His kicking has been sorely missed by Sale during the tenure of his injury. Gained some crucial metres when kicking into touch but a couple of times was a bit too ambitious and was thwarted via the ball being caught just before going out. Very nearly impeccable from conversions, only missing his last out of the four taken. Superb leadership qualities as usual and could be heard from the stands shouting orders at teammates. A welcome return to the side and came off just before 70 minutes to a standing ovation.
9 Raffi Quirke 6.5
Nearly got himself a try but was stopped at the line before getting penalised for not releasing. Solid performance with a couple of good breaks forward but not his absolute best. Still had a good game though.
1 Bevan Rodd 7
Showed a very good mix of the defensive guile needed from a prop as well as some attacking prowess. Had a decent say in the first try with an agile turn that opened up space and then got a score for himself when he dived over, not risking the extra pass that wad doubt attached to it.
Gave away a needless penalty early on but made up for it with a scrum penalty won later on.
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie – 6.5
Not his best game with a couple of lineouts that weren't collected by his big men but also one which completely evaded everyone. Was unlucky with a disallowed try in the first half. Solid enough but did not set the world alight.
3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour 7
Won a couple of huge penalties in crucial moments for Sale and was very good at scrum time. Showed nice agility to spin a defender that nearly led to a try before being held up on the line. Overall a good performance from the youngster who has recently signed a long-term deal at the club.
4 Jean-Luc du Preez 6
Couple of big shots including a tackle which flipped over a Toulon attacker, didn't put himself about a huge amount but was decent enough. Overshadowed by others but did his job to an ok standard.
5 Hyron Andrews 7
Solid physical play and was decent from the lineout, not perfect which marks him down a little bit. Intensity off the ball was necessary to ease pressure and allow the backs to play, which Andrews provided in abundance.
6 Tom Curry 8
Very, very good defensively with some huge tackles and big stops throughout the pitch, left it on a couple of players to show a bit of gamesmanship. Absolutely everywhere and a class assist to chip over the last man and assist Tom Roebuck to round off the scoring.
7 Ben Curry (c) 8.5
Player of the Match. Like his brother, was absolutely everywhere on the pitch and even showcased a bit of skill with his feet, clipping past for himself to put the game beyond doubt at a time which gave Sharks the momentum needed to secure the bonus point. Hugely physical off the ball and was a proper enforcer. Has put in a huge claim recently that he should be starting in the Six Nations for England.
8 Dan du Preez 7
A few huge hits on various opposing players, intercepted a couple of lineouts well and overall was a very hard worker who eased Sale out of the rare spells where they were under pressure while he was on the pitch. Came off just before the hour mark to plenty of applause after a big shift.
Replacements – 7
Played their parts well and helped put the game beyond doubt. All made a decent impact and can be considered to have played better than the Toulon replacements.
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