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Arron Reed double sets Sale on their way to win over Gloucester
By PA
Arron Reed’s first-half double earned Sale a hard-fought 24-10 Gallagher Premiership victory over Gloucester.
Alex Sanderson’s side put some early discipline struggles behind them to hit the front through wing Reed, who notched his second just after the half-hour mark to put the hosts firmly in the ascendancy.
Scores from the returning Ben Curry and debutant Agustin Creevy then put the finishing touches to a fine performance, before Freddie Thomas grabbed a late consolation score for Gloucester.
Victory moved Sharks to top of the league ahead of Saturday’s fixtures, while another disappointing defeat for Gloucester sees them languishing in sixth.
On a wet night at Salford Stadium, Gloucester opened proceedings with a penalty as George Barton bisected the posts in the 12th minute following an error-strewn opening from both sides due to the conditions.
Sale responded immediately to going three points down by scoring a try just two minutes later, making good use of penalty advantage by shipping wide to set Reed away for a score in the corner.
Upon his return to the Sharks side after the conclusion of the World Cup, George Ford struggled amid the testing conditions, missing the conversion for the try before striking wide with two penalty efforts.
But it was his up-and-under which led to Sharks’ second, as Jack Reeves spilled in the air allowing Gus Warr to snaffle up the loose ball. The scrum-half set Reed away on the left flank and he had too much pace for Jake Morris and Gloucester’s retreating defence.
Ford converted on this occasion as his kick from wide handed Sharks a deserved 12-3 half-time lead.
The second half started in a similar manner to the first as both teams struggled to play their rugby.
Returning for his first game following a six-month injury lay-off, flanker Curry ignited Sale into action upon his introduction in the 51st minute, scoring within a minute to extend Sharks’ lead to 14 points.
Gloucester looked to have set up a grandstand finish in the 66th but a superb tackle from the ever-industrious Warr denied them a near-certain score.
Sharks then sealed victory 10 minutes from time as former London Irish hooker Creevy powered over from a maul to secure the bonus point.
Ford added the conversion to make it a three-try game so it was always going to be too little, too late when Thomas ran in under the posts after a deflected kick fell kindly into the hands of team-mate Mark Atkinson.
Barton converted but there was no time for Gloucester to find a bonus point of their own, with back-to-back defeats leaving them under mounting pressure ahead of a derby with high-flying Bath next Friday.
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Latest Comments
I agree.
I’d like to know what constitutes a 208 week ban though?
Must the eyeball be dislodged? Hanging by a vein?
Go to commentsAlso a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.
I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.
I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.
Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.
“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”
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