Another heavy defeat for Beverley but plenty of enjoyable rugby for all that. Sale are a fine side, sitting top of the league with an average score of forty points a match and on this showing clearly destined for promotion. They gave an outstanding display of running rugby here. Their backline is probably the best in this division – fast, well organised, and thrilling to watch. In the end they romped away with it. Yet the day was by no means all doom and gloom for Beverley. Up front there was really not much in it. The Beverley forwards gave as good as they got all afternoon and several times drove the big Sale pack backwards. The difference was largely behind the scrum where Beverley were relatively lightweight in one or two positions.
Prior to the kick-off both sides lined up for a minutes silence in memory of longstanding Beverley member Frank Ankrett who had died the previous week. Once the game got underway Sale quickly went into a 17-3 lead through tries by flanker Adam Aigbokhae, lock Tom Bell, wing Jack Moorhouse and one conversion by Liam McGovern to a Phil Duboulay penalty. But Beverley did not altogether have a bad first quarter. They played with plenty of ambition when they had the ball and several times Duboulay, Junior Tupai and Richard Bussey threatened with some clever interplay in midfield.
On twenty minutes they were back to within a converted try after a remarkable score by lock Stuart Nel. Having disrupted a Sale lineout on the right he burst away down the touchline from halfway and despite numerous Sale efforts to stop him went powering on to the line. Duboulay converted from the touchline. Sadly it was the end for the unlucky Nel who had made a decent impact on his return from injury. This was his second comeback of the season and it was again cut short.
As the half wore on Beverley found themselves with increasingly less possession. Their pack were performing strongly but too much turnover ball was being lost at the breakdown and Sale capitalised by moving the ball quickly around their speedy backline. Full back Matthew Simpson, Aigbokhae and Bell all added converted tries to take them into a 38-10 interval lead.
In the second half Beverley were reduced to living off scraps and could make little impact while Sale continued to give a masterclass in running rugby. The vastly experienced Chris Mayor in the centre was a dominant figure while both Sale wings, Moorhouse and Claran Connolly showed devastating pace against some flimsy defending.
Flanker Jack Bunn had a good game for Beverley and five minutes into the half crossed for their second try after Beverley had driven Sale backwards to the line and then moved the ball right. At 15-38 it was the nearest Beverley were to get. They battled hard but Sale by now were rampant and piled on the points with ease as Beverley’s resistance faded. The score steadily mounted with Connolly (2), Moorhouse (4), Shaun Strudwick, and Aigbokhae all touching down and McGovern and Greg Jacob (2) adding conversions.
In the increasing bitter cold the referee mercifully brought proceedings to a close several minutes early which was welcome to all on the touchline and may have saved Beverley further punishment. Despite the gulf in class and the final score there was much to enjoy here. The game was played in a good spirit and there was plenty of exciting running rugby. Sale unquestionably deserved their big win but Beverley again commendably stuck at it till the end. One thing about this side is that they do not lack for spirit or effort, for which they deserve much credit especially with several members of the side having been coaxed out of retirement to stand in for injured absentees. They will not particularly relish next week’s visit to high flying Sandal but a repeat of the spirit shown today will stand them in good stead.
FINAL SCORE : Beverley RUFC 15 Sale 84 | Reported by John Nursey
