Yarde’s ‘horrendous’ injury takes gloss off for Sale
WITH six minutes remaining, positivity emanated from the AJ Bell Stadium for arguably the first time this season, as Sale were set for just their second Premiership victory in 2018/19, but a late injury rather changed that.
Marland Yarde has been in excellent form over the past few weeks, despite the issues of his team, and he was once again spritely against Newcastle.
The wing and his gnarly pack of forwards had helped the Sharks into a 20-7 advantage before he twisted his leg awkwardly in a tackle. A long period out of action seems inevitable and director of rugby Steve Diamond was understandably concerned.
“It was just horrendous, not nice to see”, Diamond said. “We'll show our care for him. It's a dislocation of the knee by the looks of it, so we'll see what the specialists say.”
It was hugely unfortunate for Yarde and Sale, who were much improved against the Falcons.
They have duly moved off the bottom of the table, with Newcastle ironically the ones to replace them in what has been a poor couple of months for rugby in the north.
Few would have foreseen these two sides languishing near the foot of the Premiership but they have failed to live up to expectations so far.
For the visitors, performances had not been as much of an issue until Saturday's contest. Dean Richards' men have perhaps not been at the level they were last season but versus Saracens, Wasps and Exeter, they produced decent displays.
Only during their shambolic first half effort at Leicester did the Falcons fall below standard, but this game was a large step backwards for the Tynesiders. In contrast, it was Sale, who have often faltered after the break and ceded decent positions in previous matches, who showed their quality in the second period.
They have particularly struggled up front, with the scrum and lineout not the solid platforms they were. It left Diamond scratching his head, but Dorian West seems to have rectified some of those problems since joining the club.
The hosts were much better yesterday, even if the first half was symptomatic of a side that went into the encounter low on confidence. Newcastle were even worse and it took over half-an-hour for the match to get going when AJ MacGinty kicked a penalty.
Richards' charges then responded through Will Welch's close range effort for a 7-3 advantage at the interval, but they struggled after the break.
Logovi'i Mulipola was yellow carded for tackling Yarde without the ball and the home team benefited from the prop's absence when James Phillips touched down.
Michael Young followed the tighthead to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Byron McGuigan before Bryn Evans went over in the lefthand corner.
Rohan Janse van Rensburg made sure of the win with a barnstorming run. The relief was palpable, but the final emotion on Saturday was concern when Yarde was stretchered off.
CLOSE-UP
Sale flanker
V
WILL WELCH
Newcastel flanker
Will Welch scored a try and made a number of tackles but did not have the impact of Curry. The Falcons often failed to retain the ball and struggled to get it back, with their potent trio of Gary Graham, Welch and Mark Wilson not as effective at the breakdown. Welch therefore lost the individual battle to Curry, who was excellent in defence and did his England ambitions no harm.
