Once again, Sale left themselves with it all to do in the final run in of the season. And once again, this team seems to be rising to the (self-inflicted) challenge! 

Last time out at home we were facing a Northampton side who have had a strange domestic year, languishing at the wrong end of the table after winning the title the year before. Sale fans who were around for the 2006/07 season might be getting flashbacks. A win was the minimum requirement, and Sale duly delivered, though not without the mandatory squeaky bum time at the end as Saints got themselves to back within three points with five minutes to play. Crucially too, we banked a try bonus point, and with Northampton out of the race for the top four we’ll overlook the fact we gave them two losing bonus points. 

Once we had recovered from that nervy finish, and everyone had stopped talking about Henry Pollock, attention turned to a huge European game away at Toulouse. Its fair to say the wider media had absolutely no expectations of Sale doing anything other than rolling over for a 70 point loss in the face of the best club side in Europe. Its probably equally fair to say most Sale fans would grudgingly have agreed (though with less points conceded, we know how good our defence is!). So it was with great surprise and serious admiration that half time saw us beating the reigning European champions. There were some absolutely titanic performances, with Jonny Hill and Si McIntyre having one of their standout games in a Sale shirt. Unfortunately, as Toulouse unloaded their bench and our squad depth was stretched, the second half got away from us and our European adventure came to its expected end. However, we’d proved everyone wrong, as we love to do! 

So with a week’s rest we then looked forward to another massive away trip to The Stoop, and after a pretty average first 10 minutes Sale put in one of the performances of the season, blowing Quins away with all the power and intensity which had matched Toulouse so well. Winning away at The Stoop is a rare thing, and plenty of Sale fans in years gone by have had to endure some miserable days there, often courtesy of Danny Care running in tries and over-confident opposition fans. And despite some nervousness in the final quarter as the classic Harlequins comeback looked on, a Tom Roebuck intercept sealed the deal and saw us march on to secure a top four space for another week (and even sweeter, probably finish off Quins’ top four hopes).  

That top four space is under threat yet again today though, with the visit of fellow contenders Saracens in another huge game (they all are now!). Sarries sit just outside the semi-final places thanks to Sale’s superior point difference, so this really is one of the biggest games all season. Sarries come in off the back of an impressive home win over Gloucester, which continued their quiet march up the table. Any talk of this being a side in transition after some long-standing departures over last summer seems to have been forgotten as we’ve all remembered (or been reminded) that the Sarries machine carries on at pace. Tonight it meets the Sharks machine though, which seems to relish these occasions and the pressure. It should be a titanic battle between these two sides – expect test match intensity, crunching tackles and plenty of entertainment. All we can ask for is that Sale come out on the right side of all that! 

Enjoy the game, 

Alex and James