Charlie Hodgson passed 1,000 points for Sale as they condemned Northampton to
a fifth successive Zurich Premiership defeat.
Hodgson, Jonny Wilkinson's England fly-half understudy turned in a 100%
kicking display, landing three penalties and converting tries by prop forward
Andrew Sheridan and right wing Mark Cueto.
It was also the Saints' third setback in a row at home, equalling their worst
run of league results at Franklin's Gardens, suffered in 1997.
After being forced on the defensive for most of the first half, they rallied
and had more of the play after the interval but had only two first-half
penalties from full-back Shane Drahm to show for their efforts and have now
managed just one try in their last five matches.
The Northampton cause was not helped by the physical battering their forwards
suffered against an aggressive Sale pack.
They lost lock Matt Lord with a cut eye in the seventh minute and although he
returned nine minutes later, he went off again for brief repairs in the 57th
minute before finally calling it a day in the 73rd.
England hooker Steve Thompson followed with rib cartilage damage in the eighth
minute, a worry for new England coach Andy Robinson with his first match in
charge coming up against Canada on November 13.
Prop Robbie Kempson was sidelined in the 19th minute with a blow to the nose
which earned Sale hooker Sebastien Bruno a yellow card and number eight Andrew
Blowers followed with a cut head in the 37th minute, although he returned for
the second half.
Northampton's woes continued in the second half when they lost replacement
prop Robbie Morris with a leg injury, resulting in the rest of the match being
played with uncontested scrums.
Northampton had their best first-half spell when Sale were reduced to 14 men
with Bruno in the sin bin.
But they rarely looked like improving on their lamentable recent try return
and their best chance went begging when fly-half Bruce Reihana's tactical
crossfield kick sailed over the head of right wing Wylie Human.
Their misfortunes continued after Sale left wing James Moore just failed to
get the touchdown after beating three men and kicking ahead.
Moore clearly appeared to be the last player to touch the ball before it went
dead, but instead of getting a 22-metre drop out, Northampton had to endure a
five-metre scrum and Sale capitalised, keeping up the pressure to drive Sheridan
over for his try.
Northampton, who had restored England wing Ben Cohen to their starting line-up
after dropping him to the bench, never gave up, mounting a late assault in the
closing stages. But they were unable to find a way through and Sale had the
final say.
Drahm's cross-field kick, aimed for Cohen, was intercepted by Cueto who
escaped the clutches of England World Cup winner Cohen to run 80 metres and
touch down. with Hodgson converting to increase his contribution to 13 points.
Northampton gave a late first-team debut to young centre Ben Patston as both
sides eventually used up their entire compliment of replacements through
injuries.
Teams:
Northampton: Drahm, Human, Stcherbina, Hyndman, Cohen, Reihana,
Robinson, Smith, Thompson, Kempson, Boome, Lord, Fox, Krige,
Blowers, Morris.
Replacements: Patston for Drahm (80), Tucker for Hyndman (72),
Howard for Robinson (80), Richmond for Thompson (9),
Morris for Kempson (18), Browne for Lord (58),
Seely for Morris (50).
Pens: Drahm 2.
Sale: Robinson, Cueto, Taumalolo, Todd, Moore, Hodgson,
Martens, Sheridan, Bruno, Turner, Jones, Schofield, White,
Lund, Chabal.
Replacements: Rhys Jones for Taumalolo (40),
Hercus for Moore (61), Redpath for Martens (78),
Stewart for Sheridan (80), Day for Schofield (53),
Titterell for White (22).
Not Used: Anglesea.
Sin Bin: Bruno (22).
Tries: Sheridan, Cueto.
Cons: Hodgson 2.
Pens: Hodgson 3.
Att: 11,365
Ref: C White (RFU).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook