LONDON – Saracens’ inability to win away from home once again came back to haunt them after they lost 14-10 to Sale Sharks at AJ Bell Stadium.
In a fiery encounter that saw Saracens earn two yellow cards, Sale Sharks narrow but efficient game was too much for the visitors as their two first half tries proved enough to hold Saracens out. In one of Cipriani’s better matches of the year, he set up Sam Tuitupou for the first try and used his handy kicking game to peg back the visitors in their own half.
Sale looked to get further ahead after Saracens flanker Jacques Burger was sent off in the 29th minute after not appearing to use his arms in a tackle however some staunch defence gave Saracens at least a chance of parity. If the visitors were hoping that things would improve on Burger’s return, they would have been sorely disappointed after scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth was sent off for a high tackle on the stroke of half time.
Considering the impressive 11-1 record that Saracens held over Sale before this match, few would have written off the visitors after going into the sheds 14-3 down at half time. But when they reemerged up the tunnel, few things changed as Sale looked nothing like the team that lost 40-19 in September.
Their defence was very impressive and while Saracens did have their chances (a couple of missed penalty kicks by Andy Goode) to stay in the match, they couldn’t quite manage it. Despite earning a consolation try in the 79th minute, it was too little, too late.