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'I was screaming from the touchline and they’re calling ‘leave the rucks alone’'
By PA
Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson praised the maturity his side showed in the closing stages for the second week running, following their 24-17 victory at Leicester Tigers.
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The Sharks controlled the majority of proceedings at Welford Road and deservedly led through Rob du Preez’s try after Ollie Hassell-Collins had earlier levelled the match for Leicester.
Just as in last Sunday’s narrow win over Northampton Saints, Sale then had to weather some heavy late pressure, but kept their discipline in the face of it to record a second straight Gallagher Premiership success.
Sanderson said: “We had to find some reserves and shake off the frustration, which we could have felt from not scoring our opportunities, and grind it out, which we did.
“They feel like some of the most euphoric wins, those kind of wins. It’s the second week running now where we’ve had to really knuckle down, but the communication and the calmness on the field – well, they were a lot calmer than I was.
“I was screaming from the touchline and they’re calling ‘leave the rucks alone’ and ‘no penalties.’
“Then the opportunity came up for Sam Bedlow and he admits it’s his first jackal turnover that he’s ever had.
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“You want to get off to a fast start and we’ve got off to one. On both occasions they could have gone the other way but it’s the nature of how we’ve come through those games that’s most encouraging.”
Mike Brown’s try opened the scoring for Leicester, but Sale hit back to lead through scores by Tom Roebuck and Ernst van Rhyn before Hanro Liebenberg reduced their advantage to 14-12 at half-time.
Sharks skipper Du Preez kicked a penalty before Hassell-Collins hauled the Tigers level, only for Du Preez’s individual effort in the 69th minute to decide the contest.
Leicester head coach Dan McKellar said: “I’m really proud and pleased with the effort the boys put in.
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“I asked for a response [from the defeat by Bristol] and we certainly got that physically.
“I just thought there were periods where we didn’t defend up to our standard and they were able to capitalise and take advantage of it. To concede three tries at home, nearly four, is not a habit that we want to get into.
“I think our exits at times put us under pressure as well and we didn’t get a whole lot of play out of our exit strategy, in terms of getting the ball back.
“But to turn over a couple of kick-off receipts easily straight after half-time, straight after we scored points initially in the first half, that put us straight under pressure and to concede early after scoring points was disappointing.”
