Charlie Amesbury was in fine form for Sale in the JP Morgan 7s at Edgeley Park
Round
2 of the JP Morgan 7s was an opportunity for Sale fans to bid a fond farewell
to Edgeley Park before they make the move to the Salford Reds stadium for the
start of the 2012/13 season. The pool
saw Leicester Tigers, London Welsh, Northampton Saints and the Sharks do battle in 7s.
Game 1: Sale 19 London Welsh 31
Newly-promoted
London Welsh took on Sale in the first game of the evening in front of an
enthusiastic crowd. The Premiership newbies scored with their first phase of possession
after Peceli Nacamavuto, the British Army centre stormed through the hosts’
defence and offloaded to playmaker Chris Banfield who opened the scoring in
Round 2 with a converted try. The Exiles
soon showed their counter-attacking guile with a fantastic 60 metre solo effort
from another Army 7s star, Ben Seru who beat several would-be tacklers to score
an unconverted try. The hosts responded with a well worked try courtesy of Charlie
Amesbury. London Welsh demonstrated
their 7s class with several outstanding and often outrageous offloads. With an
excellent ability to keep the ball alive, Welsh created a second try for Seru
which was converted to end the second half with the Exiles up by 19-5.
The
second half saw a ring of changes for Sale and this made an immediate impact. A
huge pass was thrown out wide by hooker Will Hefu and Will Cliff; the England Counties
scrum-half finished off in style and converted his own try. The next score from
London Welsh saw the best offload of the night, Iolo Evans, the Welsh U20 full
back managed to release an offload from the back of his hand in a manner which
is usually only pulled off by Sonny Bill
Williams. This unexpected trick gave former-Sale man Michael Hills acres of
space to gallop over in the corner. Sale once again rallied and smart interplay
gave Johnny Leota a simple finish, which met huge applause from the home crowd.
The converted try gave the hosts a glimpse at a come back. However, with time
ticking down, outstanding support play from Banfield allowed the flier to dot
down under the posts and secure the win for the Exiles.
Game 2: Northampton Saints 26 Leicester Tigers 24
The
second match was a close and entertaining spectacle. Anders Mogensen got the
game off to a flying start with a length of the field effort which was
converted by Ryan Glynn. The Tigers
responded after clever usage of the blind-side and a neat offload by Joe Cain created
the space for Matt Cornwell to score an unconverted try. Shortly afterwards,
some clever footwork by Leicester’s Alex Lewington allowed him to sneak in to
the right hand corner. Tom Hudson added an impressive drop-goal conversion from
the right-hand touchline. Northampton responded with a fantastic team try as
Glynn fed Mogensen for his 2nd try which was converted by Will
Hooley. Next, Tom Stephenson scored a clever opportunist try for the Saints to
round up the first half with his side in the lead 19-12.
The
second half saw the Tigers take advantage of a tiring Saints defence as simple
handling drew the last defender to allow Tom Bellak to score. This closed the
gap to just two points and shortly afterwards, Leicester went in to the lead
after Tom Hudson sprinted clear to touch down under the post and convert his
own try. However, a length of the field team effort in which every Saints player
touched the ball, allowed Jack Allcock to score under the posts. The simple
conversion gave Northampton a 26-24 bonus point win to end an enthralling game.
Game 3: London Welsh 33 Northampton Saints 7
The
London Welsh 7s superstars dominated the Northampton Saints; firstly, Iolo
Evans picked a phenomenal line and ran 40 metres to open the scoring. Then,
Aaron Myers swerved his way to the left corner to score the second try. After a
few minutes of moving from side to side, Ed Tellwright, the GB Students Sevens supremo
used his nimble footwork to beat the last man and dart in under the posts. The
simple conversion was successful. Some horrific handling from the Saints
resulted in the ball being touched down in the in-goal area in a panic,
however, luckily for them; the whistle blew for the end of the half to spare
their blushes. At the break, Welsh led 17-0.
Michael
Hills opened the half with a score after a length of the field effort and then
Banfield exposed a huge hole in the Saints’ defence to score his own converted
try. The Saints scored a consolation converted
try courtesy of Alex Woolford to avoid a whitewash. The match was wrapped up
with another length of the field effort by Ben Seru which was converted to give
London Welsh a strong 33-7 victory over the Saints.
Game 4: Sale 50 Leicester Tigers 5
Sale
came out determined to be a different side compared to the one that lost to
London Welsh in the opening game. The Sharks tore an inexperienced Leicester
outfit apart in the first half with tries from Mark Jones, Johnny Leota, Tom
Brady and Charlie Amesbury. Leicester tried to stop the rout, but could only
muster a try after a controlled fly-hack from Harry Wells and the England U19
man touched down just before half time. After the 1st half the hosts
led by 26-5.
Sale
retrieved the ball off the kick off and Will Addison was fed in to the corner.
Straight after the try, Leota made a powerful break to the pleasure of the home
crowd and then fed Amesbury for his second try under the posts. James Doyle
joined the try-scoring party with a fine show of strength and in the last play
of the game; Tom Cruise made a monumental run and finished with a Hollywood celebration
under the posts. The conversion was a success and Sale finished with a 50-5
lead over a poor, young Leicester team.
Game 5: London Welsh 52 Leicester Tigers 5
The
first half saw two fine tries from Ed Tellwright and Leicester’s only score
after a mazy run by full back Tom Bellak. After the break, London Welsh found
their stride and booked a place in the finals of the JP Morgan 7s. Tellwright
added two further tries in quick succession and then Peceli Nacamavuto came on
to heighten the pain for the young Tigers. The Army powerhouse made an
immediate impact as he set up Gerhard Wessells for a fine try. Ben Seru then
added his first try in the match after sloppy defending from the kick off as he
walked in to score. Then, a fantastic team try followed which was finished off by
Rhodri McAtee. In the final play of the game, Seru scored his second try after
strolling through non-existent Tigers defence. The final whistle play blew to
crown the Exiles as Pool B winners and hand them a commanding 52-5 victory over
Leicester.
Game 6: Sale 36 Northampton Saints 14
Sale
went in to the match knowing that a draw would see them through to the finals
of the JP Morgan 7s as Pool B runners-up. Also, the final game of the evening
was the last match of rugby to be played at Edgeley Park, it was fitting that
the Sharks were able to finish their stint in Stockport with a good win.
A
mesmerising demonstration of counter-attacking rugby was finished off by
Charlie Amesbury; the conversion however, was missed. Tom Stephenson responded
for the Saints with a scintillating break and Ryan Glynn added the conversion
with impressive accuracy. Tom Brady managed to scamper his way to the line
through several would-be tacklers and then Johnny Leota broke up field and the
ball was recycled to feed Amesbury for his second try of the game. The
conversion was successful and the hosts led 19-7 at half time.
After
the break, a fighting spirit from the Saints side allowed Alex Day to sprint
over to close the gap to just five points after the conversion was landed. This
was to be the last score for the Saints in the competition as Sale stormed
their way into the finals.
The
Tongan Hooker, Will Hafu showed his dexterity and outright pace as he galloped his
way to the line from 50 metres out to seal the win for Sale. The powerful
Tongan was barely able to catch his breath when he intercepted the kick off to score
his second try. Amazingly, his two efforts hadn’t exhausted him and the raucous
crowd were treated to an extravagant celebration, usually seen in Super 15
matches. Leota added the final try of the night, which was converted and the
final whistle blew confirming Sale’s place in the finals of the JP Morgan 7s
after a 36-14 victory.
After the game, I spoke to Sale’s Pete Anglesea, who was in charge of their 7s exploits:
On the first match vs. London Welsh
“We
started a bit sluggish to be honest, very individual and indecisive.”
“We
gave the boys a talking to about what the shirt means to people, about how many
people were watching them and said, you’ve got to perform”
On the other matches
“They
went out with a completely different attitude, we were controlled, we attacked
when we needed to and we defended when we needed to. There was a calmness about
us and then we started to run some nice tries in.”
“It’s
a good way to leave the stadium now, with smiles on people’s faces”
“Mark
Jennings was sensational, he gave the boys a massive lift and we have our pace
men, Charlie Amesbury, Tom Brady and Will Addison, I thought they really got stuck
in and looked comfortable.”
On the youngsters pushing for 1st
Team action:
“We
don’t want to hold them back; they are all going to get stuck in. All of our
young kids train with the 1st team, we give them a licence to get in
the team. If Andy Powell is not in the right place, you can go and tell him or
Mark Cueto (or whoever it is) to get out of the way. It is great for
competition amongst the squad.”
On the remaining pre-season schedule
“We
have warm-up games against Fylde and Glasgow (which is Mark Cueto’s testimonial)
and then we finish off against Leinster. It will be very tough, but we have to
go and play these teams and have a feel for where we are. It’s a great test for
us.”
On the new stadium, new players and
coaches
“As
a club, we are moving in the right direction with everything off the field and I
think we have the right team on the field. With Danny Cipriani and Richie Gray
etc. we are really moving in the right direction.”
On this year’s target
“We
want to play Heineken Cup rugby; we want to test ourselves against the best
teams. We know it’s a step up and a challenge for the club. I’ve played in it
myself and I know how tough it is, it is getting harder and harder now.
Did you go to the JP Morgan 7s in
Stockport? Who stood out for you? Do you think Sale Sharks are moving in the
right direction? Comment below or message/follow me on twitter @tommyd91
