VIDEO: The Sale 'trap' that got Stormers' Bok binned
Today at 04:14 AM
REACTION: The Stormers may have put down a serious European marker, demolishing the highly-rated Sale Sharks 40-0, but they fell foul of a well-executed trap.
Scoring six unanswered tries, the Cape Town franchise collected a full house of five points to move past Sale and Racing 92 into the top four of the Champions Cup's Pool Four.
However, it was the yellow card, issued to two-time World Cup-winning Springbok prop Frans Malherbe in the 35th minute that caused the biggest post-match debate.
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A string of scrum penalties saw Malherbe sent to the sin bin for 'repeated infringements;.
Sale coach Alex Sanderson admitted they had done their 'homework' on the 33-year-old prop, with 76 Tests and almost 200 first-class games.
"He is a great player, one of the world's best," Sanderson said in his post-match reaction.
"He does angle in.
"We knew that if we stayed square and let him take the angle, we would get some change [penalties].
"That was one of the few positives we can take out of the game."
Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson took a different view, suggesting the match officials may require some 'scrum practice'.
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"The AR [assistant referee] on this [grandstand] side may not have played in the front row," a perplexed Dobson said.
"To get the world's best tighthead prop sin-binned in the first half is an achievement."
Stormers captain Salmaan Moerat was a lot more diplomatic, paying credit to the Sharks for their set-piece play.
"However, it is not our style and our character to give so many scrum penalties away," Moerat said.
"We will have a look at that."
While they were dropping subtle hints in the official post-match briefing, the real Sale tactics were unveiled to @rugby365comin some of the fringe post-match discussions.
Malherbe, known for scrumming 'in on the angle' was caught in a trap set by a wily Sharks outfit.
"Their loosehead [Bevan Rodd] would give Frans the angle and once he took it, [Rodd] went in with him - creating a picture for the referee that Frans was scrumming in," an assistant coach said.
"They were very good at setting and executing the trap."
Ironically, replacement Neethling Fouche avoided the trap - winning back the set pieces advantage to the Stormers.
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