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Injury to England's Tom Curry mars Sale win over Harlequins

By PA
Tom Curry leaves the field injured - PA

Sale overcame an early injury to Tom Curry to sweep aside Gallagher Premiership title rivals Harlequins 24-16 at a rain-soaked Twickenham Stoop.

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Curry gave new England head coach Steve Borthwick a scare ahead of the upcoming Six Nations when he limped off in the 16th minute after his right leg was trapped awkwardly during a tackle by Wilco Louw.

His attempts to play on were unsuccessful, but impressive Sale regrouped following the departure of their explosive flanker to take Quins apart with a display of methodical precision that cements second place.

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In a first-half dominated by kicking as heavy rain lashed down in south west London, the Sharks crossed through Tom O’Flaherty and Rob du Preez to build a solid 14-6 interval lead.

Joe Marchant crossed to raise Quins’ hopes but it was a false dawn as Sale responded with forward tries by Akker van der Merwe and Cobus Wiese.

Nick David struck late on but Harlequins were effectively shut down by their canny opponents as they slumped to a third successive Premiership defeat.

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Soon after Curry had trudged off, Sale engineered their first try when Luke James injected pace as the backs were launched off a line-out and having used his footwork to create space O’Flaherty was provided with a simple finish.

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Manu Tuilagi was the next to pierce the home defence but just as it appeared Quins had survived, Ben James won a turnover that Sam James used to grubber ahead for Du Preez to score.

Tommy Allan’s two penalties kept Harlequins in touch but just as they were looking to finish a one-sided first half with a flourish, their Italian fly-half failed to find touch with a penalty.

Cadan Murley then kicked the ball out on the full and as the interval neared the aspiring England wing appeared to be in growing discomfort, clutching his chest and coughing.

Quins were in need of inspiration to haul themselves back into contention and it came through Joe Marchant, who pounced when Luke James failed to deal with an Allan crossfield kick and easily won the race to the line.

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It proved to be only a fleeting moment of defiance, however, as Sale responded by building pressure on the home 22 and in the 54th minute they were over for their third try when a line-out drive was finished by Van der Merwe.

Allan came off worst in a collision from Tuilagi and was carried off on a stretcher after receiving treatment for several minutes.

Harlequins v Sale Sharks - Gallagher Premiership - Twickenham Stoop

Sale quickly resumed battering at the door and once more their pack outmuscled the hosts with Wiese claiming the final drive to secure the bonus point.

Another try looked to be coming but Quins broke from their half through Danny Care and several phases later David ran a slick line to carry him over, but the conversion was missed and the Sharks ran down the clock.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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