George Ford kicked Sale to victory against Harlequins on a gritty and scrappy opening-weekend clash between two sides with lofty Premiership ambitions this season.
With miserable conditions and heavy rain in Salford, free-flowing and enterprising rugby were never likely to be on the agenda here. Indeed, this was a game more about resolve and character which, to be fair, Quins showed plenty of throughout.
However, this contest ultimately had a familiar outcome for anyone who has watched the Sharks in recent seasons, with Ford’s boot the difference between the two sides. With Sale leading 9-8 at half-time, there were no points throughout the second half until Leigh Halfpenny nudged Quins ahead by two with a long-range penalty on his Premiership debut.
Ford’s two penalties inside the opening half-hour put the Sharks into a 6-0 lead and with horrendous rain making any sort of attacking play difficult, it already felt as though penalties would be vital.
Quins did respond with what proved to be the game’s only try as a rolling maul enabled Jack Walker to crash over but Halfpenny missed the conversion. In the end, that would prove to be decisive, with Ford and Halfpenny exchanging penalties as half-time approached to make it 9-8 in favour of Sale at the break.
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With Quins unable to string any sort of fluency in their attack together, Danny Wilson sent for the likes of Danny Care and Marcus Smith to try and find a spark, but they struggled all afternoon. Then, with nine minutes remaining, Halfpenny stepped up to kick Quins into the lead after Sale were penalised for failing to play the ball.
But two minutes later, Ford replied with an even more impressive effort from out wide, his fourth penalty of the afternoon, to restore Sale’s one-point advantage: which they held onto despite a couple of late scares.
