For those busily trying to work out how many millions the Premiership might currently be worth, this was not the Super Sunday fixture to dazzle would-be private equity suitors. A grey, slightly damp afternoon in Eccles is not the most reliably irresistible of televisual backdrops and comparisons with Manchester’s round-ball theatre of dreams up the road were less than striking.
Pending the day they change the laws completely, however, rugby beauty still resides in the eye of the beholder. For Sale this was a decidedly welcome outcome, a relieving win to banish the opening weekend disappointment the Sharks endured at Harlequins. For Worcester, 18-0 down at the interval, there was at least the consolation of a second losing bonus point in successive weeks as a reward for their trip north.
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This will not be the easiest place to come when Chris Ashton, Faf de Klerk and James O’Connor are restored to the Sale lineup, with Jono Ross always a willing presence in the back row and both Marland Yarde and Denny Solomona looking dangerous on the wings in front of the watching England head coach, Eddie Jones. On this occasion they were also indebted to the fit-again Josh Beaumont, the scorer of their opening try, and fly-half AJ MacGinty, a calming tactical presence who also kicked 11 points.
Then again, as the Sharks’ director of rugby, Steve Diamond, was quick to point out, tougher obstacles than Worcester still lie ahead. Sale’s defence was frequently excellent but it will need to be even better at Exeter, the early leaders, on Saturday. “If we play like we did in the second half we’ll get killed at Exeter,” said Diamond. “We made the mistake of underestimating Quins last week and we got put back on the coach with tears in our eyes. It was embarrassing and won’t happen again.”
The competitiveness of the league is certainly on the increase, with the race to avoid bottom set to be as intense as it has ever been. Before it sits contentedly back puffing on a big fat cigar and counting its potential dividends, however, professional rugby really needs to get its act together in terms of the consistency of its concussion protocols.
Nowadays if a player is visibly knocked cold the consequence should be permanent removal. The sight of Nick Schonert, Worcester’s tighthead, returning to the field having apparently lost consciousness for several seconds following a nasty first-half collision therefore raised a number of questions, particularly as each Premiership club is now supposed to have a dedicated pitchside video reviewer with access to eight different camera angles.
Worcester’s Alan Solomons said he had not seen the incident but his opposite number was more forthcoming. “I thought it was strange he came back on,” said Diamond. “He did look as if he’d had a bad knock but we trust the fact their medical people know what they’re doing.”
There was also the grim case of the 38 fruitless phases during which the Warriors, on the verge of half-time, were guilty of one of the most brainless attacking “red zone” sequences. Endless one-out passes inviting yet another poor sap to run straight into the exact same brick wall is not only dull thinking but reliably ineffective, particularly against muscled-up modern defences. The only possible conclusion was that Worcester’s forwards did not entirely trust their backs not to mess it up, hardly a good sign just two weeks into a new season.
Their second-half revival, consequently, was more than a touch unexpected given Sale’s comfortable early cushion. A clever swivel pass from Yarde had set up Beaumont for the home side’s first try before Solomona intercepted an attempted long pass from Ryan Mills to extend the margin even further. Diamond insisted there was no complacency – “We weren’t swinging from the chandeliers at half-time” – but tries from Bryce Heem and Chris Pennell ensured a tauter finish than anyone could have envisaged.
It might have been closer still had Jonny Arr’s close-range lunge for the goalpost padding been given the green light by the television match official, rather than being adjudged a fraction short. Worcester did come away with three points via a consolatory penalty but, after losing a winnable game at home to Wasps in round one, Solomons wants to see greater accuracy.
The marketers who think English club rugby union could soon be wowing huge new audiences in China and the US every week should not get too far ahead of themselves just yet.