England’s head coach Andy Robinson said: It was a good performance
England’s head coach, Andy Robinson, said: “It was a good performance. The thing that impressed us all was the attitude of the players at the end of the season. The new red rose regime began its reign with a convincing victory over an invitation side that had won its previous three matches at Twickenham. It was one small step for England on the way to the 2007 World Cup, but a giant step against the Barbarians.
If the champions carry on like this, their owner will find himself negotiating a groundshare at Old Trafford.Sale: J Robinson (capt); M Cueto, M Taylor (C Mayor, 71), E Seveali’i (V Courrent, 80), O Ripol; C Hodgson, R Wigglesworth (B Foden, 80); L Faure (Turner, 80), A Titterrell (S Bruno, 52), S Turner (B Stewart, 52), C Jones (Chabal, 80), I Fernandez Lobbe (D Schofield, 40), J White, M Lund, S Chabal (C Day, 70).Leicester: G Murphy; T Varndell, O Smith (L Lloyd, 66), D Gibson, A Tuilagi (S Vesty, 46); A Goode, H Ellis (A Healey, 52); G Rowntree (M Holford, 61), G Chuter (J Buckland, 65), J White, L Cullen (J Hamilton, 56), B Kay, S Jennings (L Deacon, 50), L Moody, M Corry (capt).Referee: D Pearson (Northumberland).. “The moment we shift 8,000 season tickets, we’ll guarantee ourselves a sell-out for every home game and start thinking seriously about expansion,” said Kennedy. This was the freewheeling Sale of old, rooted in the new imperatives framed by Saint-Andr?In other words, it was perfect.Eight years ago, Newcastle disrupted the status quo by winning the Premiership They have not finished in the top five since Sale, by contrast, are equipped for long-term success. Two ferocious Chabal drives sandwiched an intelligent pass from Elvis Seveali’i before Hodgson beat Ollie Smith and dummied Alesana Tuilagi to open a road to the line for Oriol Ripol. Wigglesworth wiggled for all he was worth in the slippery conditions – along with the equally diminutive Andy Titterrell, he made a thorough nuisance of himself – and with Lund hitting the heights alongside Jason White and S?stien Chabal, the back-row contest proved unexpectedly one-sided.Of the new champions’ four tries, two came from toe-pokes, one from a loose Leicester pass – Austin Healey ended a top-flight career full of sound and fury that signified rather less than he appeared to believe by presenting Chris Mayor with a run-in from long distance – and the other from the outstanding attacking move of the game, which occurred on the stroke of half-time and just about buried the Tigers. Charlie Hodgson outplayed his rival England stand-off, Andy Goode, spearheading a tactical kicking game that left Leicester’s for dead and managing his back division with such assurance that his country need look no further for a No 10 capable of defending the World Cup in France next year. From the moment Magnus Lund, an obvious challenger to Moody on England’s forthcoming trip to Australia, restored daylight between the sides after a sharp break from Richard Wigglesworth, there was no doubt as to the outcome.Sale had the Tigers by the short and curlies, every which way.
His King Canutism was rewarded with a try after 12 minutes, and as a result the Midlanders were in close touch at the end of the first quarter But they would get no nearer, and did not deserve to do so. To prosper against the odds, Sale needed rest and recuperation rather than intense preparation – their boss granted them both – and a slice of good fortune to go with it, which came in the shape of a downpour.This blessed rain allowed the formidable Sale forwards to exert such complete authority in the early stages that the Leicester pack failed to raise a gallop, with the honourable exception of the flanker Lewis Moody, who performed with energetic defiance in mounting a one-man stand against the opposing tide. No league-topping team had managed to close the deal by winning the final since the introduction of the play-off format in 2003, and with Saint-Andr? charges significantly affected by injury and fatigue, it was Leicester who arrived in London feeling good about themselves. Their performance at Twickenham could not have been delivered without him.The weight of evidence, not to mention the weight of history, was against Sale at the weekend. Sale reached cup finals before Saint-Andr?aterialised on the rain-sodden outskirts of Manchester United land, and even enjoyed the occasional flurry of successful activity in the league, but the former Tricolore captain’s iron resolve and infallible rugby instinct -an instinct rooted as much in the bestial side of French rugby as in the beautiful one, despite a playing career on the wing – has raised them to a different plane.