A second try from lock Chris Jones in the third minute of stoppage time earned
Sale an all-important bonus point and eventually sank the brave basement club.
Rotherham threatened to pull off the shock of the Zurich Premiership season
when they led 7-3 but Jason Robinson came to the Sharks rescue with his first
try of the season before Jones supplied the finishing touches with his
second-half brace.
The Sharks were starting to panic after the Titans, who already look doomed to
relegation after 13 straight defeats, belied their perilous position to roar
into a deserved lead.
Sale were still trailing 7-6 on 24 minutes when Rotherham were reduced to 14
men with the sin-binning of prop Colin Noon and that proved to be the turning
point of a highly competitive match played in front of a bumper crowd of 8,797,
Sharks' best-ever Premiership attendance.
Robinson, playing out of position at centre, pounced for the all-important
score on 28 minutes after making the initial breach and then taking a return
pass from full-back Vaughan Going to turn Sale pressure into much-needed
points.
It was just the tonic the Sharks needed after the visitors, with only a
solitary bonus point to show for their efforts in the first 12 games, made the
more impressive start.
Fly-half Charlie Hodgson, handed the goalkicking responsibility once more in
the absence of Braam van Straaten, put his side ahead in the second minute with
the first of three penalties which followed the first of a series of offside
infringements by the visitors.
But the Titans, bolstered by the addition of forward debutants Andy Long,
Corniel van Zyl and Des Tuiavii, looked anything but relegation certainties in
the opening quarter and they scored the game's first try with their first
attack.
Fly-half Phil Jones, one of only six Britons in the starting 15, broke the
first line of defence and was subsequently driven over the line for a try he
converted.
Rotherham would have been further ahead had Jones not failed with three
penalty attempts and he also put a drop goal wide of the target, chances he came
to rue.
Hodgson put over a second penalty but also surprisingly missed the target with
another effort before Robinson's timely intervention, which came when Rotherham
were down to 14 men.
The Sharks lost scrum-half Nick Walshe with a leg injury on 31 minutes but it
proved a blessing in disguise with the experienced Bryan Redpath quickly making
his presence felt from the bench.
Robinson gathered a kick from Titans full-back Bernardo Stortoni and Redpath
cut a path through the fragmented visitors' defence for left winger Steve Hanley
to finish in style with a storming run to the corner, with Hodgson adding his
second conversion.
It took the home side only three minutes of the second half to stretch their
lead, with Hodgson's long pass finding lock Chris Jones in enough space for him
to step off his right foot and score with ease.
Hodgson was unable to add the goal but, at 25-7, the game was over as a
contest and Jones went within inches of adding a second try as Sale maintained
the pressure.
Rotherham coach Steph Nel sent on Ireland international scrum-half Guy
Easterby in a vain effort to stem the rising tide while the Sharks went in
search of the bonus point.
Hodgson kept the score ticking over with a 60th-minute penalty before
Robinson, unleashed by an alert Redpath, went within inches of grabbing a fourth
try, his kick just running dead.
Messages went out for the Sharks to run the ball at every opportunity and
their patience eventually paid off in the third minute of stoppage time when
Jones dived over for his second touchdown of the match, with Hodgson kicking his
sixth goal.
Teams
Sale: Going, Cueto, Mayor, Robinson, Hanley, Hodgson, Walshe,
Sheridan, Titterell, Turner, C. Jones, Schofield, White,
Pinkerton, Sanderson.
Replacements: Hoyle for Hanley (70), Redpath for Walshe (31),
Cairns for Titterell (49), Stewart for Turner (49),
Lund for Pinkerton (60).
Not Used: Yates, Day.
Tries: Robinson, Hanley, C. Jones 2.
Cons: Hodgson 3.
Pens: Hodgson 3.
Rotherham: Stortoni, Pieters, Jorgensen, Pritchard, Wood,
Jones, Raulini, Lloyd, Long, Noon, Gross, van Zyl, Tuiavii,
Van Der Merwe, McLeod-Henderson.
Replacements: Keyter for Wood (40), Benson for Jones (65),
Easterby for Raulini (50), Olkers for Noon (60),
Volschenk for van Zyl (60), Lewis for Tuiavii (72).
Not Used: Johnson.
Tries: Jones.
Cons: Jones.
Sin Bin: Noon (25).
Att: 8,797
Ref: S Leyshon (RFU).
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