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Dernière d'une des poules les plus relevées de cette première phase
Danny Cipriani hopes to use Sale’s European Rugby Champions Cup clash with Saracens as an opportunity to boost his England hopes.
The Sharks’ fly-half has been in excellent form this season, but missed out on a place in Stuart Lancaster’s squad for the autumn internationals.
He will not get the chance to go head-to-head with Owen Farrell, who did make the England squad, as the Saracens man is shifted to inside centre with Charlie Hodgson at stand-off.
But Cipriani said: “I have been told what I need to work on and I will continue to do so through the rest of the season to tick the right boxes and put my hand up.
“There are certain areas of the game I need to improve on, from my general play, to my kicking out of hand or sometimes over-working in defence. Just little bits I have been looking at. I want to be that complete player.
“But I need to put my hand up with my performances for Sale.
“You want to play against the best 10s and if you get the chance in a European fixture it does add spice to it and you want to have a great game.
“It’s important we rise to the occasion as a team.”
Both sides desperately need victory to keep pace in a fiendishly tight Pool 1, which also includes Munster and Clermont Auvergne.
Sale’s hopes of picking up their first win in the Champions Cup will be boosted if they can keep a handle on Saracens wings Chris Ashton and David Strettle.
The England internationals have played a starring role in Europe so far this season scoring two tries apiece, only Northampton’s George North has scored more.
But the Barnet-based side have not won in their last three games, not that scrum-half Neil de Kock is losing any sleep.
He said: “We are in unchartered territory a little in the fact that we haven’t won in three games. But we have a group of guys with a history of responding well to setbacks.”
Match facts
- This will be the first meeting between the two clubs in European competition.
- Sale Sharks’ Magnus Lund (37/39) is the top tackler in the Champions Cup so far this season, while Saracens’ Jamie George (19) made the joint most tackles in the most recent round of fixtures.
- Sale Sharks’ Johnny Leota has made the joint most clean breaks (5) in the tournament so far this season.
- David Strettle and Chris Ashton have scored two tries each in the tournament so far this season, only George North has scored more (4); Ashton is joint 6th on the all-time try scorers list in the competition with 25.
En s'imposant avec les plus grandes difficultés sur la pelouse de Sale (19-15)
Saracens kept their knock-out qualification hopes alive and kicking as they won a fascinating and thunderous all-England Pool 1 clash against Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium.
It was a second group win of the campaign for Mark McCall’s men while Sale have now lost three from three and prop up the Pool with just two bonus losing points.
Saracens – last season’s losing finalists – will now welcome Sale to Allianz Park in Round 4 back on track to stay in contention for quarter-final qualification in the wake of this 19-15 success.
The first meeting between the clubs in European competition started at a fast and furious pace and kept going in much the same vein for the full 80 minutes, Saracens having to survive a desperate late Sale onslaught.
Sale Sharks – tournament champions in 2002 and 2005 – saw one of their former favourite sons open the scoring for Saracens as outside half Charlie Hodgson slotted a penalty goal chance with less than five minutes gone.
But the home response was not long in coming, and it came in some style.
Sale opted to use a penalty opportunity to kick for touch and their adventure was duly rewarded with a try that would have delighted lovers of forward play.
The ball was quickly in Magnus Lund’s hands and a superbly drilled driving maul blew the Saracens defence wide open, outside half Danny Cipriani adding the extra points.
But opposite number Hodgson then stole the spotlight, his delightfully angled break from a line-out leaving the Sale defence flat-footed, his pace leaving Mark Cueto clutching at thin air before an expert offload enabled Owen Farrell to stretch over for an unconverted try.
The lead changed hands again when Cipriani hammered over a long range penalty as Hodgson limped off and out of the action for Farrell and Cipriani to go into head-to-head No 10 conflict.
Farrell was quick to boot Sarries back in front with a penalty and they took that slender one-point advantage into the break.
And for Sarries it was quickly a case of “anything you can do, we can do just as well” as they also took a line-out option and their version of a driving maul – with several of the backs joining in and adding their weight – ended with No 8 Billy Vunipola crashing over for their second unconverted try.
With Welsh referee Leighton Hodges also having a fine match Sale closed the gap to just a single point once again with centre Sam Tuitupou making magnificent inroads into the Saracens defence and Russian lock Andrei Ostrikov showing impressive pace to go over for their second try.
Replacement Nick MacLeod missed the conversion and Farrell eased Saracens four points ahead with a smart drop goal, Sale battering the Saracens line in the dying moments but Sarries hanging on to stay in the last eight hunt.
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