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Tom Arscott scores a hat-trick as Sale get off the mark against London Welsh Tom Arscott scores a hat-trick as Sale get off the mark against London Welsh
(about 3 hours later)
Tom Arscott scored a hat-trick as Sale secured their first Premiership win of the season with a comprehensive thumping of London Welsh. Tries from Arscott and Vadim Cobilas, along with five points from the boot of Danny Cipriani, gave the Sharks a 15-3 advantage at the interval, with Welsh’s only response in the first 40 minutes coming through an Olly Barkley penalty. Steve Diamond, the Sale director of rugby, praised his team for their late efforts in securing a first win of the Aviva Premiership season at the expense of London Welsh but acknowledged there was plenty of room for improvement.
Cipriani kicked his second three-pointer of the afternoon to extend the lead after the break. Nic Reynolds’s touchdown gave the visitors hope, but Arscott went over for the second time to seal the win and Tom Brady scored late on to garner a vital bonus point. Arscott then completed his hat-trick before Luke McLean touched down in the last minute. The Exiles had produced a spirited display for 65 minutes, going into the last quarter of an hour just 18-8 down, with Nic Reynolds scoring Welsh’s try.
Both sides a record of two defeats from two games, although the visitors at least had the excuse of having to integrate 25 new signings. However, once Tom Arscott crossed the whitewash in the second period, the visitors crumbled and conceded further scores through Tom Brady, Arscott – his hat-trick try – and Luke McLean as the hosts ran out 46-8 winners.
Although Bath and Gloucester are expected to challenge for the top six, narrow losses to the west-country teams represented a frustrating opening to the campaign for Steve Diamond’s Sharks. Although Diamond was pleased with the result, he insisted there was more to come.
Two weeks ago against Bath, Sale lacked intensity in the initial exchanges and found themselves 7-0 down almost from the kick-off. He said: “We stressed all week that the side that comes up will generally struggle with the pace of the game and we wanted to try and keep the intensity high.
This time they started on the front foot, touching down within three minutes when Cipriani, McLean, Johnny Leota and Will Addison combined to send Arscott over against his former club. It was the perfect start for the hosts, but a poor one for the visitors, who had shipped more than 100 points in their previous two games. “The fresh legs made a difference – it gave us some impetus. Danny Cipriani is playing well and spread the ball around.
To their credit, the Exiles fought back and went through the phases in the opposition half before an offside infringement allowed Barkley to reduce the arrears with a penalty. Welsh then had a second three-point opportunity as Sale’s poor ball-handling skills and indiscipline let them down, but the visiting stand-off was awry from the tee. “It wasn’t a great performance by us, to be honest. We were scrappy in some areas. But credit to them, they are very dogged and they’re good at the set piece, so we had to work hard for it.
That was to prove costly for the away team as Sale once again exerted pressure on the visitors’ line and Cobilas eventually bundled his way over. Cipriani was on target with the extras as Sharks opened up a 12-3 lead. “We’re making some elementary errors – it’s where we’ve been all year, to be honest. We’ve just got to try and eradicate them.
Sale continued to dominate possession and territory and extended their lead at the break via a three-pointer from their fly-half, following a yellow card to Dean Schofield. Down to 14 men, the Exiles were on the back foot at the start of the second period when a powerful Sale scrum resulted in a penalty, which Cipriani duly converted. “We come across Saracens, Northampton and Wasps in the next few weeks and, if you make those basic mistakes, it costs you dearly.”
Justin Burnell’s team showed some fight, though, and had chances in the Sale 22 before they finally – and deservedly – broke through after 57 minutes, when Reynolds went over. But the Sharks lifted the intensity and effectively sealed the victory when Arscott crossed for his second score, converted by Cipriani. The London Welsh head coach, Justin Burnell, blamed “individual errors” for their capitulation, having been only 10 points down with 15 minutes to go.
Brady touched down to clinch the bonus point before Arscott completed his hat-trick a minute later when Michael Paterson collected the re-start. “You think with a few minutes to go you’re still in it,” Burnell said. “Just in crucial areas we made some mistakes early on and then all of a sudden it gets to a decisive moment and we have a crucial lapse in concentration.
McLean then went over in the final minute to seal a comfortable win. “We fumble the ball and we lose possession and, in all fairness, they capitalise on it.
“It’s like anything – once they’re on the front foot, their tails are up and the floodgates opened. It was the same old story – people dropping off.
“It’s execution, it’s skill and it’s the individual errors – I think that was the biggest disappointment.”
Tries from Arscott and Vadim Cobilas, along with five points from the boot of Cipriani, gave the Sharks a 15-3 advantage at the interval, with Welsh’s only response in the first 40 minutes coming through an Olly Barkley penalty.
Burnell’s team showed some fight, though, and had chances in the Sale 22 before they finally – and deservedly – broke through after 57 minutes, when Reynolds crossed the line.
But the Sharks effectively sealed their victory when Arscott went over for the second time, Cipriani adding the conversion, and Brady scored late on to garner a vital bonus point.
Arscott then completed his hat-trick before McLean touched down in the last minute to seal a comfortable win.