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'He's apologised': Sale Sharks coach on why Manu Tuilagi is 'gutted' after red card
By PA
Phil Dowson praised Northampton for their character as they came back from trailing 24-7 at half-time to claim a thrilling 38-34 home win.
Saints, despite being a man up for more than three quarters of the match after Manu Tuilagi’s red card just 14 minutes in, struggled to deal with Sale’s physicality up front and Sharks built a lead thanks to tries from Arron Reed, Tom Curry, Rob Du Preez and Ewan Ashman.
Sale still left Northampton with two bonus points and remain in an excellent position to claim a home semi-final spot and Alex Sanderson was upset Tuilagi did not get to show what he can do to England head coach Steve Borthwick.
Sanderson said: “He (Tuilagi) is gutted. He’s apologised and said he owes us. He fully owns what happened out there and that’s the kind of man he is.
“I know he will pay us back but all of that is tough to take when you’re still reeling from a game that we could have won and we probably should have won.
“This was a game where he wanted to show how good he still is to England and those guys who are watching.
“I’m gutted for him that he didn’t get to do that, he didn’t get to showcase what he’s about and I want that for him.”
Sanderson is aware that Tuilagi’s red card was not the sole reason for defeat, with his side’s second-half performance worrying him.
He added: “We went in at half-time with the focus being on defence but we didn’t get that part of the game right mentally and they scored 31 points in the second half.”
But it proved to be a game of two halves as Saints impressively came roaring back into the game thanks to tries from Tommy Freeman and Matt Proctor, reducing the gap to 27-19.
Sam Dugdale’s try looked to put the match out of reach, but when Ashman was sent to the sin-bin and Sharks went down to 13 men, Saints scored unanswered through a penalty try and further scores from Callum Braley and Fraser Dingwall to claim a memorable win.
Northampton director of rugby Dowson said: “It’s kind of our season in a nutshell really.
“In the first half, we were very poor, gave penalties away, didn’t have the ball in their half, played in the middle of the field and couldn’t deal with the maul so we conceded four tries.
“It was unacceptable, but what you have to congratulate the players on is the heart, the desire and the character to come back.
“We got back on page, played properly, got back in the game and we kept fighting. Those are the most important things from our point of view.”
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Latest Comments
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Nothing to stew son.
Go to commentsTupaea is a natural 12. What is it with you kiwis and playing players out of their positions. Is that some sort of national sport? Is that on purpose? You’ve got an utility back and a winger at 12 and 13 respectivelly. You played Savea at 8 for ages, wasting the potential of one of the world’s three best players in the last 4-5 years.
ALB is equally effective at 12 and 13, so why not have him or Tupaea at 12, and Proctor at 13? God forbid you’d have two midfielders playing at their natural positions! There must be a law in New Zealand, that prohibits that. Small sample size, but Proctor walked on water in his international debut at 13.
But the kiwi selectors seem to love Rieko’s speed, so as long as the horse is fast enough, they decided they’ll teach him to climb trees anyway.
You don’t have a better 10 than BB and Mo’unga. DMac is a more instinctive attacker (almost as good as Mo’unga … almost), but doesn’t have BB’s game-controlling skills. You have and will lose games due to his aimless kicking and spur-of-the-moment inventions none of his team mates are able to read at the international pace. Works okay at Super Rugby level, doesn’t mean it’s transferable to test matches. But hey, suit yourself.
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