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Sale Sharks book their first Premiership Final in 17 years

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Sale beat Leicester Tigers 21-13 at the AJ Bell to earn a place in the 2023 Premiership Final.

A monumental clash and arguably the biggest game ever played at the AJ Bell stadium, Sale met defending champions and perennial English rugby powerhouses, Leicester Tigers, for the chance to play Saracens at Twickenham.

Sale picked a full strength side for their first home semi-final since 2006. Tom Curry and Akker van der Merwe returned to the forward pack after being rested the week before, the former taking his place alongside his brother and the retiring Jono Ross in the back row.

Elsewhere, the impressive Gus Warr returned to the starting side as Alex Sanderson made five changes from the team that blew Newcastle away 54-12. Sale’s 10 and 12 pivot were meeting familiar opponents, Ford and Tuilagi facing the club where they played for nine and eleven years respectively.

Leicester were struck a blow before kickoff as their fly-half and World Cup winner, Handre Pollard, pulled out of the game injured. He was replaced in the starting side by 39-year-old Jimmy Gopperth.

A nervy opening stanza saw neither side prepared to take risks and sticking firmly to their structures.

Sale found themselves on the wrong side of referee Wayne Barnes early on, conceding three penalties in kickable range. Gopperth skewed the first to the left of the posts before converting twice from similar positions, 0-6 to the visitors.

The hosts rallied and thought they’d opened their accounts after 20 minutes, Akker van der Merwe losing the ball over the line after a dominant maul.

They did score minutes later however, Sale making metres at will through the belly of the Tigers defence and fullback Joe Carpenter throwing the killer cut-out pass for Tom Roebuck to score in the corner. Ford nailed the touchline conversion to give Sale the lead for the first time in the game, 7-6.

Sale began to grow into the game and dominated possession and territory in the final 15 minutes of the half. After a period of sustained pressure on Tigers tryline, England prop Dan Cole was sent to the bin for a high tackle.

Leicester required a valiant effort to defend their line with just 14-men but the visitors held strong, grateful to go into the halftime break with just a one-point deficit.

The second half started much like the first, both sides sticking to rigid kick and chase tactics. Sale’s talisman Ford scoring the first points seven minutes into the new half. The hosts lead stretched to four, 10-6.

A pivotal moment was to follow as Leicester worked into the Sale 22 and were able to convert, a long floated pass latched onto by winger Harry Potter who finished in the corner. Gopperth on target from wide out to put Tigers back in front, 10-13.

After a flat start to the second-half the hosts burst back into life. Ford levelled the scores off the tee before Sharks fired their own pivotal blow. Defensive pressure turned into attacking field position and momentum and Ford fired the pass out wide looking for his winger. The pass hit the floor but Arron Reed was on hand as the ball richoted into his grasp, to the raucous elation of the Sale fans in the north stand. Ford unable to convert this time after Reed squoze into the left corner.

The sellout crowd at the AJ Bell were starting to play a big role in the game and reached a cresendo when Sale thought they’d scored another. Reed swooping on a loose ball and galloping in the Leicester backfield before linking with Raffi Quirke who streaked under the posts. Referee Wayne Barnes, however, ruling that Reed’s pass was forward.

As the minutes ticked down Sale’s leaders began to take the game by the scruff of the neck. George Ford converting a decisive penalty goal with 10 minutes to go, to take Sale two scores clear.

Leicester had chances to create a dramatic ending but failed to convert. The crowd raised to their feet and counted down the seconds as the players ground out the final rucks. Fittingly, Ford had the honour of booting the ball into stands, the man of the match who completed the same feat last season but in a Tigers shirt.

For the home crowd, however, it was a feeling that many had never experienced, a semi-final win and a place in the final for the first time since 2006, when Ford was 13-years-old and a year after his coach, Alex Sanderson, hung up his playing boots. It was all high-fives, hugs and smiles as the Sale staff emptied onto the field to congratulate their heroes, and console the broken Tigers, a mixture of disbelief and elation written across every face.

Speaking post match, Ford expressed the pride he held, to deliver success for the North West region, as a boy born and bred in Oldham.

“I’ve played away here many times and I’ve never seen it like that, never heard it like that before. We speak about it all the time, how one of our ‘reasons why’ is to get the people up here proud and supporting rugby union.

“It is challenging up here with football and rugby league, but we want to make kids pick up a rugby ball. When we’ve finished and gone, those kids will be the ones carrying on the legacy, Northern lads playing rugby for Sale, that’s what we want.

“It was an emotional day today, as you can see from the crowd, and I’m just proud of the boys for sticking in it.

“As players we will have to get a lot closer over the next couple of weeks but these games are the ones you dream of you as a kid.”

Mirroring these sentiments, Ford’s Head Coach and fellow Northerner Alex Sanderson said:

“I was blinded by stress but every now and again I’d turn around and it was amazing.

“My job is to get players to play well on the weekend, but if I can help grow the game in the North, which we are doing, that is something I’m very proud of.

“I can’t talk about it too much because it makes me want to cry, but to come home, to the team i played for, to the team my brother played for, it is a dream.

“This is a special, special group of boys. They had to dig very deep in the well today.”

Finally, on his little maestro in the number 10 shirt, proudly taking home the man of the match award, Alex beamed with pride:

“He led from the front, he was a little pocket of calm, amidst the storm.”

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