Sale grind out win over Northampton to start Premiership season

Sale ground out a nervy 20-15 victory over Northampton to start the Gallagher Premiership season on a winning note.

Last season’s runners-up were not at their fluent best, being without many of their World Cup stars, but some stout defending, particularly at the death, helped them prevail.

Depleted Saints, who have not won in the league at Sale since 2017, gave it everything, but were unable to even it up late on.

In bright sunshine at the Salford Stadium, it was the Saints who got themselves off to a flying start with an early converted try.

Smart work down the right saw Tom James take a quick tap, with Tommy Freeman eventually going over in the corner. Fin Smith was accurate with the conversion.

However, with only five minutes on the clock Sharks replied with a converted score of their own.

In the opposite corner Tom Roebuck was able to dive over, with fly half Rob du Preez pinpoint with the kick as the score moved to 7-7.

It had been a hugely enterprising start to the game with so many non-regular starters on both sides clearly keen to impress.

Roebuck provided the assist as Sale struck again soon after, with Tom O’Flaherty profiting, though this time the extras were missed.

The theme continued with play switching from end to end, and it was the Saints who then fluffed a relatively easy penalty chance as Smith was uncharacteristically off target from just left of centre.

The Saints kept probing and Smith kicked an even easier penalty to close the gap to 12-10, but plenty of determined Sharks defending was keeping them out.

Another momentum shift saw the hosts win a penalty in the Saints’ 22, with Du Preez making it 15-10, before a pushover try from Ethan Caine eventually sent Sharks into the interval 20-10 ahead.

A number of handling errors did not help either side’s momentum in the early stages after the restart.

Saints set up a tense finish in the 69th minute when a rare swift break down the right culminated with Alex Coles feeding James Ramm, and he was able to charge to the line in the corner for an unconverted try.

The visitors desperately tried to secure what would have been a late equalising try and maybe a winning conversion, but they were thwarted by the Sharks’ gutsy defending.