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Sale defied Jacques Vermeulen’s first-half red card to dispatch Saracens 21-17 with Tom O’Flaherty emerging as the star of a slug fest at StoneX Stadium.
Vermeulen was shown a 20-minute red for a dangerous tackle on Tomos Williams at a point in the first half when Alex Lozowski was in the sin bin because of the same offence.
Saracens then took control but it was only temporary and in the 41st minute O’Flaherty produced the match’s pivotal moment by racing over for a dynamic solo try.
It was part of a dominant second half from Sale, who capitalised on the hosts’ lifeless performance to bounce back after losing to Bristol on the opening weekend with their hooker Nathan Jibulu also outstanding.
Director of rugby Alex Sanderson backed him to make his England debut after the 23-year-old was named man of the match, saying: “Any time you watch Nathan play he makes an impact. He takes meters either side of the ball and we knew that he had that in him.
“He was a wrecking ball and caused havoc around the field. He nailed his line-outs and showed he’s of international class. You can get away with being fast and skilful in the Prem, but it’s another level again in terms of the power that’s required at international level and he’s got that ability. He’s immensely strong.
“This could be the season when he explodes onto the international scene. Theo Dan’s a great player but it doesn’t seem that anyone’s snatching that position after Cowan-Dickie or George. There’s been a lot of rotation between those two and with England wanting to build into a World Cup, this could be it for him, a good opportunity.”
Referee Joe James and TMO Hamish Smales experienced a busy opening half hour, issuing two cards and disallowing a Saracens try.
It had started so well for Sale when Jibulu finished a driving maul but soon after centre Lozowski was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Alfie Barbeary, who was forced off for an HIA.
Worse was to come when Vermeulen was given his marching order for a dangerous challenge on Williams as the Sharks looked to press home an attack down the right touchline.
It meant Saracens were given the opportunity to play against 13 for three minutes and Sale’s situation would have deteriorated further had Courtney Lawes not seen an attempted deliberate knock go backwards.
Almost immediately the hosts appeared to have taken advantage but a Nick Tompkins try was ruled out because of obstruction by Nick Isiekwe and it was not until Eroni Mawi bundled over in the 34th minute that they were off the mark.
For all Saracens’ sustained pressure they still trailed 7-5 and a minute into the second half that became 14-5 after O’Flaherty caught a George Ford up and under that went sideways and then slipped through the home defence before sprinting over.
Sale ran out of tacklers to enable Sione Va’enuku to strike back almost immediately but they resumed on the front foot and were frustrated to be penalised just short of the whitewash on two occasions.
They continued knocking on the door and suddenly changed pace with a series of runs gaining yards until Ford sent Ben Bamber galloping over.
Sale now led 21-10 and Saracens’ dismal afternoon continued when Theo Dan limped off while his fellow hooker Jamie George watched from the stands, sidelined by a pubic injury.
Charlie Bracken combined with brother Jack to race over with eight minutes to go and the Sharks then let another commanding position slip away because of a penalty close to the line, but they had already done enough to see off Saracens.
PA
