Johnny Leota’s hat-trick helps seal a bonus-point win for Sale in the Amlin Challenge Cup

Sale got back to winning ways with a patchy performance against a disjointed La Villa side; too many handling mistakes and silly errors were prominent throughout the game for both teams. To be fair to La Villa, the Sharks did not get out of their own half until nearly ten minutes into the game. La villa started strongly and winger Marcos Poggi looked dangerous out wide as he chipped a ball through which was knocked on by the young Sale full-back Will Addison. It would be fair to say that Sale slightly underestimated the Spanish champions as they tried to play from deep early on; a tactic that would have cost them an unexpected try had James Knight not knocked the ball on in his attempt to intercept Rob Miller’s pass.

Sale looked dangerous in their early forages into La Villa’s territory; following a successful line-out, the Sharks’ forwards drove a maul slowly towards the try-line, however, Nick McCashin, the La Villa fly-half was yellow carded for being caught in an offside position when Sale were about to score. Sale boldly opted for a scrum from the penalty and they were rewarded with a penalty try from referee Alan Falzone after they destroyed the Spanish scrum. La Villa did well to hold Sale off the score sheet for 17 minutes, but it was an inevitable outcome. Miller added the simple conversion. Sale 7 La Villa 0

The Sharks looked to be in for another easy score, but once again they were halted by cynical play when La Villa collapsed a powerful driving maul.  From the penalty the forwards backed themselves once again and Captain Andy Powell barged his way through two defenders to score Sale’s second try. Miller was unsuccessful with the conversion. Sale 12 La Villa 0

Even with several handling errors from many Sale players, the Sharks managed to find some attacking form; Miller made an outstanding 40 metre break through the Spanish defence, but the ball was knocked on by his supporting team-mates just metres from the try-line. Addison made amends for some of his errors with a promising break of his own, but once again the ball was lost in contact, this time by Andrew Higgins. A few phases later after winning their own set-piece, Higgins showed his devastating finishing power, he swatted aside three defenders and eased his way under the posts. The conversion was a formality for miller as Sale increased their lead Sale 19 La Villa 0

La Villa were awarded with penalties for putting several phases together and trying to push deeper into Sale’s half. McCashin could not make his first attempt count as he skewed it to the left of the posts, but he managed to land a huge kick from inside his own half to get La Villa on to the scoreboard. Sale 19 La Villa 3

The Spanish visitors made their intentions to chip away at the lead known by their decision to kick at goal from another penalty. McCashin added another penalty from just about where his first attempt was on the pitch. Sale 19 La Villa 6

The ball was kicked out of play by the visitors and the half-time whistle blew. Half time: Sale 19 La Villa 6 Sale looked as if they were trying to play rugby in the wrong areas of the field and they made mistakes that would have been punished by better teams. La Villa would have been proud of their first half-performance; they defended fairly well and kept some possession away from the home side. Fitness and discipline would prove the key to avoiding embarrassment in the second-half.

Ten minutes in to the second-half Sale secured the bonus-point try after some subtle interplay between Johnny Leota and Luther Burrell. Leota’s try could have been prevented, but poor defending let the Spanish side down. Miller was on target again with the conversion. Sale 26-6

Simple handling in the back-line and a clever dummy by Burrell sent the winger through to score under the posts and Miller was given another simple conversion. Sale 33 La Villa 6

Sale improved as the game went on and they showed a well worked move from a line-out; Powell and debutant Cillan Willis linked up in midfield with a delicately performed switch and Miller threw a wide flat pass out to Higgins. Sale went right up to the try-line, but the ball was slapped out of Willis’ hands by La Villa’s scrum-half Hernan Quirelli. The scrum-half was given a yellow-card as he became the second member of the back-line to be sin-binned. From a resulting penalty at the scrum Willis made the most of half a gap and scored on his debut for the Sharks with a clever opportunist try under the posts. The conversion once again was slotted by Miller. Sale 40 La Villa 6

After 65 minutes La Villa’s players looked out on their feet and Powell made the most of this with a rampaging run down the left-wing. Higgins looked to be in for his second try, but he was just held up short of the line. Open-side flanker Richie Vernon burrowed his way over the line in the corner to score for the home side. Miller showed he could kick more demanding conversions with a fantastic touch-line effort. Sale 47 La Villa 6

The game started to loosen up and even the Captain Powell was allowed to have a punt downfield. Slick interplay between Burrell and Leota put the outside centre into space. Leota sold Edu Sorribes Ramirez the La Villa full-back an outrageous dummy as he went in for his second try of the evening.  Miller was having a great day with the boot and he added another conversion from a difficult angle. Sale 54 La villa 6

Addison once again showed why he is one to look out for in the future as he showed excellent footwork and speed to ease his way around several defenders. He chipped the ball through and Leota demonstrated accurate footballing skills to control and collect the bouncing ball to seal his hat-trick. Miller missed the conversion in an otherwise great kicking display. Full time: Sale 59 La Villa 6

Man of the match: Johnny Leota (Sale) the outside-centre was the most consistent performer on the pitch for Sale and he finished his tries well. He was assured in defence and set up his colleagues for well-worked tries.

After the match I spoke to Sale’s forwards coach Steve Scott:

On improvements needed for the return to the Aviva Premiership:

‘We need to improve our basic skills; we showed tonight we can score good tries, but we need to build up more phases of possession.’

‘We will need to be much better next week against Exeter, the Aviva Premiership is a very tough competition and the players will improve next week because it is a very important game for us.’

On the younger members of the squad looking for more first-team action:

‘Age means nothing if the players are good enough.  You need a big squad and it is good that we can give young players an opportunity in the Amlin and LV Cups. If they perform consistently well, then rightly so they should come into selection.’

On Sale’s ambition in the Aviva Premiership this season:

‘We want to be back in the Heineken Cup and to do that you need to finish in the top-six. A top-four finish would be outstanding. Our target at the moment is to be in the top-six and to be back in the Heineken Cup next season.’

Have you got any thoughts or comments? Do you think Sale could be contenders in this season’s Amlin Challenge Cup?  Can the Sharks make the top-six in the Aviva Premiership? Message/follow me on twitter @tommyd91 or post a comment below. Please follow Crouchtouchengage if you would be interested in receiving regular updates from the Aviva Premiership, the Heineken Cup and International Rugby.

Martin Johnson resigns as England team manager- where do England go from now?

Today Martin Johnson has announced his resignation from his role as England’s manager. His decision follows increasing pressure from the media due to England’s terrible performance at the World Cup in New Zealand where players misbehaved off the field and they did not succeed on the pitch.

Martin Johnson’s Management Record

England played 38 games under Johnson’s leadership and won 21, drew 1 match and lost 16; this leads to a winning percentage of 55.3%. This is a poor record for a top tier side. If you compare this record to Graham Henry’s statistics as the All Black manager it makes miserable reading; the All Blacks won 84.5% of their matches including the latest World Cup during Henry’s tenure. England never recaptured their form following a promising World Cup in 2007.

 Martin Johnson had an impressive playing career, but he was put into the top job without any prior experience of management

Who should replace Johnson?

Currently the majority of England rugby fans are hoping that Graham Henry can be tempted to move to London to become England’s manager. However, this would take a major investment of capital to tempt Henry from the southern hemisphere. Other coaches who have been linked to the role include Nick Mallett, the former Italian coach and Jim Mallinder who currently is the head coach at Northampton. Mallet has had a distinguished career in management with roles at Stade Français, and the International stage with South Africa and Italy. Mallet’s highlights include the 17 game winning-streak that he led the Springboks to in 1997-8 , the two domestic titles that he led Stade Français to in 2003 and 2004 and Italy’s 22-21 win over France in last season’s Six Nations. Mallinder has turned Northampton Saints from a side that was relegated into a championship competing side; the Saints have finished as runners up in the Heineken Cup, won the LV=Cup and they made the play-offs last season.

Jake White has also been linked to the role, White helped make South Africa World Champions in 2007. He is currently with the Brumbies in Australia but he would be another hugely popular addition to the national team.

 Personally if Graham Henry is not given the role I would like to see Nick Mallett given the job as England’s team manager. Mallett has fantastic coaching experience and he would immediately make an impact. Mallinder seems to be working well at Northampton and it would be detrimental to the Saints if he left.

Who should line-up against Scotland in England’s opening match of the 2012 Six Nations?

1.    Nick Wood (Gloucester)

2.    Dylan Hartley (Northampton)

3.    Dan Cole (Leicester)

4.    Courtney Lawes (Northampton)

5.    Louis Deacon (Leicester)

6.    Tom Croft (Captain, Leicester)

7.    Tom Wood (Northampton)

8.    Thomas Waldrom (Leicester)

9.    Joe Simpson (Wasps)

10. Toby Flood (Leicester)

11. Charlie Sharples (Gloucester)

12. Owen Farrell (Saracens)

13. Manu Tuilagi (Leicester)

14. Chris Ashton (Northampton)

15. Ben Foden (Northampton)

Have you got any thoughts or comments? Who do you think should be England’s new manager? Who should start for England in the Six Nations this season? Message below or post/follow me on twitter @tommyd91.

Heineken Cup rugby back with a bang

Ronan O'Gara ended a captivating encounter against Northampton with a fantastic 35 metre drop-goal after 41 phases in Munster's 23-21 victory at Thomond Park

Pool 1

Munster 23- Northampton 21

A packed partisan crowd at Thomond Park in Limerick was treated to an epic Anglo-Irish encounter in which the 2 time European Champions showed their true class as they overcame a spirited Northampton side. It only took 3 minutes for Munster to break through Northampton’s defences; Damien Varley managed to squeeze over for the first points in the match and Ronan O‘Gara managed to add the conversion. The Saints bounced back with a well worked counter attacking try of their own courtesy of Chris Ashton who dived in into the corner after being set up by Ben Foden. Ryan Lamb could not add the conversion, but he did contribute with three penalties in the first-half. Munster worked hard at the end of the first-half with plenty of attacking pressure which led to O’Gara adding a penalty and Doug Howlett side-stepping Foden to score under the posts.  O’Gara managed to add the simple conversion. The half-time score was Munster 17 Northampton 13. Early in the second-half, O’Gara and Lamb exchanged penalties and then the Saints pilled on the pressure. After some simple attacking phases, James Downey managed to crash over for Northampton’s second try. Unfortunately Lamb could not add the crucial conversion. Northampton looked to be pushing for a tremendous away victory, however, with two minutes to go in the game Munster went through a gruelling 41 phases before they put O’Gara back in the pocket for a drop-goal to win the match. O’Gara struck the ball beautifully and the 35 metre attempt sailed through the uprights. Northampton Saints were unlucky to miss out on the four points in Limerick, but they will be proud of their performance.

Man of the Match: Ronan O’Gara (Munster) The Irishman held his composure right to the end of his 99^th Heineken Cup game and he managed to earn his side a vital win in the first round of the competition.

Scarlets 31 Castres 23

The first-half at Parc Y Scarlets was a dull affair with Stephen Jones Rémi Tales exchanging penalties. After 40 minutes, the Scarlets were up 9-6 and they came out for the 2^nd half looking to spread the ball wide. Sean Lamont scored to stretch the lead to 10 points following Jones’ successful conversion. Romain Teulet added a penalty to the visitor’s score line and then Ben Morgan added a converted try for the Scarlets with half an hour to go in the match. Credit must be given to Castres who did not give up in the match as they responded with a try courtesy of Marc Andreu which was converted by Teulet.  This gave the match some life and Scott Williams managed to break away from Castres’ defensive line to feed Jonathan Davies for the Scarlets’ third try. Castres managed to add some drama to the match with a Chris Masoe try, but a final minute penalty from Rhys Priestland sealed a much needed win in the 1^st round for the Welsh side.

Man of the Match: George North (Scarlets) the young winger showed his all-round quality once again with a solid attacking and defensive performance. It shows how a winger can be vital to a team’s performance without crossing the try-line.

Pool 2

Racing Metro 20 Cardiff Blues 26

Cardiff were buoyed with the timely return of their Welsh Internationals as they managed to claw their way to a vital away win in Paris. Unfortunately the Blues lost James Down to a serious ankle injury after only two minutes and then Jamie Roberts to a groin injury shortly after. Cardiff found themselves 6-0 down after Gaetan Germain added an early penalty and Juan Martin Hernandez dropped a goal. The Blues did not let the impact of two players succumbing to injuries or the early points scored by Racing affect them. After some slick handling Tau Filise managed to dive on a loose ball to score Cardiff’s first try which Dan Parks converted. Parks and Germain exchanged penalties and then the game came to life before the end of the second-half. Juan Imhoff added a try for the hosts and then Alex Cuthbert went over in the corner for Cardiff. Parks added the conversion from the touchline to make the half-time score Racing Metro 14- Cardiff 17. The second-half was a battle of the kickers; Parks came out on top with three penalties to Germaine’s two successful kicks. This was a fantastic result for Cardiff as they face a tough home test against London Irish this weekend.

Man of the Match: Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues) the former Glasgow fly-half was outstanding with the boot as he slotted 2 conversions and 4 penalties to assure Cardiff came away with an away win.

London Irish 19 Edinburgh 20

Tom Homer, who was the hero for Irish against Leicester the last week managed to add two early penalties for his side. Lee Jones responded with a try of his own which was converted by Harry Leonard. Homer added another penalty and then converted Ross Sampson’s try. Leonard then kicked the final penalty of the half, after 40 minutes the score was 16-10 in the home side’s favour. After half-time, Homer added his final penalty of the game to stretch the lead, however, Edinburgh managed to land a vital score through the powerful charge of Stuart McInally, Greig Laidlaw who came on as a substitute added the conversion and a penalty to seal an unlikely away win for Edinburgh. London Irish could not scrape a win with a drop-goal attempt from Bowden and a penalty attempt from Homer. So far this season in the Aviva Premiership London Irish’s goal kicking has been excellent so it was surprising that their kicking game let them down.

Man of the Match: Tim Visser (Edinburgh) the winger was always a threat for Edinburgh and he made several key clean breaks through Irish’s defensive line.

Pool 3

Montpellier 16 Leinster 16

Montpellier seemed to dominate the opening exchanges and Benoit Paillaugue opened Montpellier’s account with a penalty after only two minutes. Sexton replied with two penalties of his own as Leinster looked to work their way into the game. However, Montpellier were better than Leinster in the rest of the first-half as they counter attacked from deep in their own half. The ball was chipped ahead and then Fulgence Ouedraogo was put in for an easy try. Paillaugue added another penalty to make the half time score 13-6 to the hosts. Francois Trinh-Duc added the first points of the second-half after sustained pressure from the French side. Leinster showed the determination that has won them two Heineken Cups as they fought back against a determined home side. Sean Cronin was powerful and deceitfully quick as he made the most of his chance to score the Irish only try for Leinster. Sexton piled the pressure on Montpellier with the conversion and the gap was back to just three points. Captain Leo Cullen made a bold decision to kick to the corner from a penalty with not much time to go in the match. This decision did not pay off, but luckily for Cullen Leinster was given a chance to snatch a draw at the death. Sexton showed maturity beyond his years to land a penalty with the final penalty of the game.

Man of the Match: Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) the fly-half was able to land the winning penalty and control Leinster’s comeback in a bravely-fought match.

Glasgow 26 Bath 21

The first-half was a tame affair in Heineken Cup standards; it was a kicking duel between Duncan Weir and Tom Heathcote for Glasgow and Bath respectively. Weir came out on top in the first half as he landed three penalties to Heathcote’s two. The second-half was more encouraging for Bath initially as Heathcote added a further two penalties. Stuart Hogg managed to find a few inches of space to scramble over for Glasgow’s first try which was converted by Weir. Heathcote and Weir then exchanged penalties and the World Cup winning fly-half Stephen Donald looked to have won Bath the match with a kick that just about stayed on the right side of the left-hand upright. However, in a bizarre turn as Glasgow pushed for a winning drop-goal, the attempt was charged down which made every player onside. Richie Gray took advantage of the rule and pounced on the ball to secure a surprise win for Glasgow.

Man of the Match: Duncan Weir (Glasgow) the 20 year-old fly-half had a great day with the boot and kicked 2 conversions and 4 penalties as he guided Glasgow to an unlikely victory.

Pool 4

Arioni 12 Leicester 28

The Tigers will be disappointed to have missed out on a bonus point in Italy against the relative new boys in European Rugby. Leicester got off to an excellent start in Italy with Toby Flood slotting two early penalties and Tom Croft crashing over for their first try which Flood converted. The destructive Alesana Tuilagi kept up his excellent try-scoring record for the Tigers with Leicester’s 2^nd after a powerful charge through the heart of Arioni’s defence. Flood once again was successful with the kick. Arioni finally got on the scoreboard with two penalties courtesy of Luciano Orquera to give the half-time score some respectability Arioni 6 Leicester 20. Flood was disappointed to hit the posts after half-time with a penalty, but he was able to land another kick for three points shortly afterwards. Arioni added another two penalties in the game and Leicester looked to push for a four try bonus point. The Tigers showed their fantastic attacking potential with Geordan Murphy throwing a wide pass out to Niall Morris who touched down for Leicester’s third try at the end of the match.

Man of the Match: Tom Croft (Leicester) the English flanker made several powerful tackles and managed to get his name on the score sheet with a well taken try. Croft is a consistent performer in the line-out and in open-play and he should be given the England captaincy in the Six Nations this season.

Ulster 16 Clermont 11

Clermont had an excellent first-half at Ravenhill; they stormed into the opening exchanges with Noa Nakaitaci dashing past Ulster defenders to score the visitors’ only try. Ian Humphreys and David Skrela exchanged penalties and the half time score was 6-11 in the visitors’ favour. Ulster’s forwards put in a tremendous amount of tackles in the second-half and never faltered in their commitment. Humphreys kept chipping away at the score board with three penalties in the second-half which allowed the home team to win 16-11. If Brock James had been successful with two penalty attempts then the final phases of the game would have been an even tenser affair. Clermont will be pleased to have won them a losing bonus point at a tough away venue; however, they should have pushed on from an impressive first-half.

Man of the match: Ian Humphreys (Ulster) the fly-half clawed his team back in to contention in the match and he held his composure to land two penalties in the final ten minutes.

Pool 5

Ospreys 28 Biarritz 21

Damien Traille opened the scoring for the visitors with a pragmatic drop-goal in a fairly uneventful 1^st half in which Dan Biggar eased the Ospreys into a 6-3 half-time lead with two accurate penalties. Soon after half-time Biggar added two penalties to which Marcelo Bosch replied with two of his own for the Basque side. Biggar added another penalty in a fantastic kicking performance only for Ian Balshaw to crash over for the first of his two tries. Unfortunately for Biarritz, the conversion attempt by Bosch was unsuccessful. Tommy Bowe managed to find enough space to score the Ospreys’ only try, the conversion was missed by Biggar, but he looked to seal the game with a penalty with just over 10 minutes to go. Biarritz did not give up and when Balshaw dotted down for his second try which was converted, the crowd sensed a nervy final few minutes at the Liberty Stadium. Balshaw looked to be in for a hat-trick, but the referee called back the try that would have won the French side the match due to a forward pass.

Man of the Match: Ian Balshaw (Biarritz) the former Gloucester winger helped lead an impressive fight back against a demanding opposition. Any other day Balshaw could have been the Heineken Cup hero for Biarritz if he had managed to finish off for a third try. Balshaw was strong in defence and took his other chances well.

Saracens 42 Treviso 17

Last year’s Aviva Premiership Champions got off to a comfortable start against Treviso at home. Owen Farrell once again showed why he will be a key member of England’s Six Nations squad this season. The young centre put in a helpful contribution with a try, four conversions and three penalties. Saracens did not find their feet until the second half, the first half was 16-3 to the home side and then four further tries followed. To Treviso’s credit they managed to score two tries against a tough defensive line with scores from replacements Franco Sbaraglini and Gonzalo Padrò. The bonus point victory for Saracens was sealed with tries from David Strettle, Chris Wyles, Ernst Joubert and newcomer John Smit. Saracens could not manage to hit the 50 point mark, but they got the vital bonus point. Saracens now face a tough away visit to the South-West of France against Biarritz.

Man of the match: Owen Farrell (Saracens) the youngster was outstanding with ball in hand and with the boot. He controlled the game in the centres and always looked dangerous in attack.

Pool 6

Harlequins 25 Connaught 17

Harlequins won their 11^th game in a row in all competitions at the Twickenham Stoop. Nicky Evans made an early penalty count to open the Londoners’ scoring account; however, the score was cancelled out by Miah Nikora’s successful penalty. Evans added another penalty for Quins and then Tiernan O'Halloran was put through for a nicely worked try after a terrific break by Eoin Griffin. Nikora added the conversion from a tough angle to keep the pressure on Harlequins. Evans quickly responded with another penalty and then Karl Dickson went over for a try after 15 gruelling phases. Evans slotted the conversion and another penalty before half-time to stretch Harlequins’ lead. Harlequins were in control at half-time with a 19-10 lead. Connacht’s captain Gavin Duffy scored the only try for the Irish side after a risky miss pass found him out on the left-wing. Niall O'Connor added the tricky conversion to put serious pressure on Harlequins.  Harlequins have had such an excellent start to the season because of their ability to close out tough matches and they showed this once again as Evans kicked a final two penalties to grind out the win on the first weekend of the competition.

Man of the Match: Nicky Evans (Harlequins)

Toulouse 21 Gloucester 17

Gloucester turned up at the Stade Ernest Wallon with nothing to lose- the terrible play on words used in much of English rugby’s media over the past couple of days, but the statement was right. Gloucester’s young guns; including Freddie Burns, Charlie Sharples, Jonny May and Henry Trinder will have learnt a great deal from their experience in the South West of France. They faced International superstars such as Clément Poitrenaud, Luke McAlister, Jean-Baptiste Poux and Lionel Beauxis. After Gloucester held off a near certain try from Toulouse, it was the Cherry and Whites who were awarded with the first scores. Burns slotted a penalty to open Gloucester’s account and Charlie Sharples was released into the corner from some slick handling thanks to the full-back May who had come into the attacking line following a turnover at the scrum. Burns added the conversion to put the Cherry and Whites into a ten point lead. Just before half-time Toulouse managed to get on to the scoreboard with a McAllister penalty and the former All Black put in a clever kick behind Gloucester’s defensive line for Timoci Matanavou to pounce on and score. McAllister missed the penalty meaning Gloucester went into half time with the score at 8-10 in the visitors’ favour. Ten minutes after half-time, Alisdair Strokosch made a crucial error as he slapped the ball from a Toulouse hand as he earned himself ten minutes in the sin-bin. Gloucester managed the 10 minutes well as they were only punished with a single penalty from McAllister. With 16 minutes to go, Beauxis added a penalty after Gloucester were penalised at the scrum. Gloucester demonstrated their counter attacking guile as the made the most of an advantage with Mike Tindall, who made a powerful break through the first line of defence and fed Trinder who picked an outstanding running line and had the pace to make it to the try-line.  The travelling Gloucester fans were delighted as Burns added the conversion to put Gloucester in to a three point lead. Unfortunately for them, Poitrenaud picked a good line off Matanavou’s outside shoulder with a pass that looked forward, but on a second look it appeared to have come off replacement scrum-half Dave Lewis’ hand. Beauxis added the conversion and Burns chose to kick the ball in to touch instead of looking for a miracle score and risk losing the bonus point for being within seven points. Gloucester can be immensely proud of their efforts in Toulouse and Harlequins will worry about the trip to Kingsholm this weekend.

Man of the Match: Henry Trinder (Gloucester) the centre had a fantastic game and he looked dangerous every time he had the ball. He did not look at all out of place against Florian Fritz or Yann David and he picked terrific running lines throughout the match. Trinder is definitely one to watch, he has the ability to be a serious counter-attacking threat, but he can also defend well above his size and weight.

Have you got any thoughts or comments? Who do you think impressed in Round 1? Message/follow me on twitter @tommyd91 Please follow Crouchtouchengage for regular updates form the Heineken Cup, Aviva Premiership and International tournaments.