A young Sale Sharks squad endured a difficult night at Heywood Road as Stuart Lancaster’s Connacht side geared up for the start of the URC with a 5-40 win.
The Irish visitors scored six tries – two in the first half and four in the second – with winger Obi Ene replying for Alex Sanderson’s side in front of a packed house at Sharks’ historic home.
With many of Sharks established stars missing, including England’s summer tourists and British and Irish Lions, it was a chance for new faces and youngsters to press their claims to be involved when the Gallagher Prem kicks off in less than three weeks..
New signing Jacques Vermeulen started in blue for the first time and England U20s fly-half Ollie Davies lined up in the ten shirt with plenty more Academy talent joining the action in the second half.
But it was Connacht’s international experience that told in a disjointed first half.
After two charged down kicks in the first ten seconds, Connacht pinned Sharks back in the early exchanges and were rewarded on the ten-minute mark when former Leicester back rower Sean Jensen crashed over following a driving maul.
Ireland international fly-half Jack Carty slotted the conversion from the left touchline to give the visitors a seven-nil lead.
Alex Sanderson’s men fought their way back into the game and after a series of opportunities from lineouts, were denied a score following a big turnover on the Connacht line.
They would be left to rue that missed opportunity with seconds left in the first half as a missed tackle and a break from inside centre Cathal Forde led to a try from three-cap Ireland scrum-half Caolin Blade.
Carty’s conversion left Sharks with a mountain to climb in a second half that began in low key fashion with both sides struggling to make inroads.
The second-half deadlock was broken ten minutes in when replacement Seamus Hurley-Langton found a gap in the Sharks defence to score.
That signalled a raft of changes for Your Sharks as Ethan Caine, Sam Bedlow, Joe Bedlow, Tumy Onasanya, Dom Hanson, Jos Gilmore and Patreece Bell all joined the action.
But the changes couldn’t wrestle back the momentum and Connacht extended their lead to 28 when flanker Sean O’Brien scored under the posts.
The Sharks faithful had something the cheer with 15 minutes left on the clock when a break down the middle from debutant back-rower Frank Chatterton saw the ball shifted wide from Dom Hanson to Ollie Davies and then to Obi Ene who touched down in the corner. Tom Curtis’s conversion hit the upright and bounced away.
More Sharks changes came as Albert Bradshaw and then recent signing Patrick Hogg entered the fray, but they couldn’t stop O’Brien grabbing his second try after a series of pick and go’s.
Hurley-Langton completed the scoring with seconds remaining when he crashed over from the back of a lineout, leaving the final score 5-40 and giving Alex plenty to ponder ahead of the start of the Prem Cup next Saturday when Bristol are the visitors to the Salford Stadium.
Tickets for that one, and for the opening two home fixtures of the new Gallagher Prem season, are on sale here.
