Part 3 - How it all ended
By RK
August 28 2005
PSA once said a Sale had good "piano players" but not enough "piano movers". His task to change that - to start in the kitchen not the garden. The metaphors may be mixed but the thinking was good. Just how good Sale fans were about to find out . . .
As January prepared to give way to February, our season was approaching
something of a crossroads.
To the right lay the glory; perhaps the Zurich Championship title but
certainly a place in the Heineken Cup and a European Challenge Cup
final victory.
Yet to the left lay agony. Real agony as for the second season in a row
we could end up with nothing - not even a Heineken Cup place
– to get us through the close season.
The encouraging thing was that as we approached that crossroads, we had
been presented with three eminently winnable fixtures to set us on the
right path.
First up were relegation-threatened Northampton at EP, yet they had not
read the script and moved into the lead in the first half as Steve
Thompson proved there is more to his game than shocking line-out
throwing when he was driven over for a try.
Fortunately the lads responded in style with Charlie at the heart of
everything, bagging 17 points of his own and twice sending Steve Hanley
in for tries with pinpoint passing as we ran out 37-24 winners.
But the delight was tinged by a large dose of regret that the Six
Nations was now upon us and the heart would be ripped out of our squad
just as it had finally found its feet again after the heartache of the
autumn internationals.
So it was with a heavy heart we travelled down to the Madejski Stadium
to face a London Irish side who in Barry Everitt and Mark Mapletoft
- as we know only too well - have two players who
will usually punish any indiscipline in their half.
Fortunately, though, Everitt was absent and Mapletoft had what the
official Irish website described as his "worst ever game (in
goal kicking terms) for the Exiles".
Mapletoft - bad day with the boot and bad hair day!
So we welcomed Leeds to Stockport for the cross-Pennine clash in mid-February on the back of two successive triumphs and with our England contingent back in the reckoning, albeit for one game only.
Charlie was the focus of much media attention after what was hyped as a "nightmare" display against France at Twickenham the previous weekend and he reacted to a warm welcome from his most vociferous supporters with a virtuoso display.
Fourteen of our 19 points came from the boot of the Yorkshireman and he would also have been able to boast an "assist" had Quates been able to convert what was now becoming a trademark - for both club and country - crossfield kick.
The Tykes did rally from 19-3 down as Phil Christophers scored a late converted try but it was too little, too late and PSA was able to celebrate a victory he felt had come despite us not being at our best, or "playing badly but winning" as he put it.
Yet as with just about every other silver lining in the season, a cloud was looming large on the horizon in the form of yet more internationals - these ones robbing us of no less than 14 of our top players.
So we travelled to Worcester, already a popular venue with Sharks fans, with a much-weakened squad to face a team who had confounded the pre-season doom mongers in not accepting what was widely seen as certain relegation.
Indeed we saw first hand just why the Warriors were on course to stay afloat as they ran out 23-10 winners, completing a hat-trick of Premiership victories in the process.
There were mixed feelings for PSA as he first lamented the loss of his internationals - pointedly highlighting the fact that the week after the Worcester game we would have all our players available yet no game to play - but then admitted he had been disappointed with our line-out play despite fielding a severely weakened pack.
He was forced to return to the international theme a fortnight later after a 32-19 defeat at London Sale, for whom victory was especially sweet given all their Sale links.
And as if a 13-point loss to Dimes and Co were not enough to stomach, our squad was stretched even further after losing Chris Mayor to a serious knee injury that would sideline him for six months. PSA had probably never heard of the phrase "it never rains but it pours" but with a trip to Wasps next up, you can bet he understood it.
As it was we went close to snatching a draw but a late conversion attempt from Mike Hercus just drifted wide and the champions were able to celebrate a 27-25 victory inspired by an impressive performance by two-try centre Ayoola Erinle.
Herco had only made it onto the pitch when Charlie was withdrawn with groin trouble after what had been a below-par performance from him both in attack and defence. Indeed PSA was forced to admit that he was suffering a crisis of confidence after his disappointing goal kicking performances for England in the Six Nations.
A week was not enough to ease his groin problem so Herco was again centre stage when we visited Connacht for the first leg of the European Challenge Cup semi-final.
An early drop goal should have settled his nerves yet when he missed two penalties soon after, more than a few people in the stands were lamenting Charlie's absence.
But Herco is made of strong stuff and he battled back to score 10 vitally important points (the same tally as Quates) in a 25-18 win for the boys in blue which featured the debut (finally) of Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe around nine months after he signed.
Herco was at it again early in our next game with a conversion of a Quates try and then a penalty but from 10-3 to Sale it was pretty much one-way traffic as Leicester showed why they were top of the table with a six-try demolition job at Welford Road.
Lewis Moody, Leon Lloyd, Andy Goode, Martin Johnson and Alesana Tuilagi scored the first five of the Tigers' tries and we weren't even allowed to grab the last try of the game as Quates' second of the match was followed by a Tom Varndell touchdown which secured a 45-15 victory for the title favourites.
As well as the scoreline another cause for concern as we travelled home was PSA's cryptic criticism of certain players just seconds before he appeared to suggest he would be happy to finish fourth as long as it meant qualifying for the Heineken Cup.
The Frenchman said: "Leicester looked sharp but sometimes you play games where some guys don't believe you can win. Everybody respects Leicester but it's important not to respect them for the 80 minutes. Sometimes we are too polite and too nice."
He added: "If we were to finish fourth, we'd be happy."
Yet a week later the players showed they had no plans to settle for fourth with a 35-17 home victory over Gloucester inspired by Charlie just days after he learnt he had been called into the Lions squad along with Jason (R), Titts and Big Ted.
Quates and Jason (W) could consider themselves unlucky to miss out and the former set about proving Sir Clive Woodward wrong by scoring with a trademark try.
PSA returned to a familiar theme as he reflected on the victory, praising the lads' "character and commitment" and saying we looked "dangerous" with the ball.
The following week we would have to defend a seven-point lead to book our place in the European Challenge Cup final - and we did so in style as everything clicked in a 59-9 thumping of Connacht at EP.
Charlie collected a personal haul of 24 points and Quates and Tam showed just how unlucky they had been to miss out on Lions calls with the former bagging a hat-trick of tries and the latter touching down to cap an inspirational display up front.
Indeed PSA branded Quates "the best winger in Europe" after his virtuoso display, adding: "It was very, very difficult for Mark to be left out (of the Lions squad). He has played very well for us all season and also for England in the Six Nations so he was very, very low. He scored two tries away to Connacht (in the first leg) with no ball and then two tries against Leicester without any ball and then three again today"
As if to underline just how good and versatile a player the Cumbrian is, PSA switched him to full-back for the final Premiership game of the season - against Quins, who were fighting for their lives in the top flight.
And Quates responded in the style we have become accustomed to with a try as we gleefully condemned Quins to life in National League One - and confirmed our Heineken Cup place in the process - with a nail-biting 23-22 victory at The Stoop.
Unfortunately that was reduced to one when Wasps rallied from a 22-17 half-time deficit to win the Zurich Premiership semi-final 43-22 despite tries from Seabass, Tam and Quates.
Kingsley, put up for the post-match press conference, felt we had been unfairly penalised by referee Dave Pearson in the 50-50s - and more than one Sale fan felt Wasps DOR Warren Gatland's comment that "everyone was hoping for a Wasps v Leicester final" could easily have included the man in the middle at the Causeway!
Despite the disappointment there was still one game to lift ourselves for . . . with the small matter of the European Challenge Cup at stake at Oxford's Kassam Stadium.
Quates was probably the one person who didn't need any pre-match pep-talk as following Iain Balshaw's injury he had been drafted into the Lions squad.
And it was no surprise to see him among the scorers in a comfortable 27-3 victory, ironically along with only his fellow Lions as our points were shared between Charlie, Titts and Quates.
Hodgson led the way with a brace of tries, which more than made up for kicking just three from his seven attempts, in a match that was not helped by the pouring rain. Yet the downpours couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of those Sale fans lucky enough to be present as they rose to acclaim a first piece of silverware since 2002.
The victory was the perfect send-off for scrum-half and former captain Bryan Redpath as he made his last appearance for Sale before retiring from playing, and the sight of him being hoisted high into the air on the shoulders of Seabass and "Nacho" Lobbe after the final whistle is one that will live long in the memory.
PSA branded it mission accomplished, saying: "It was very important for us to win some silverware. We held a meeting at the beginning of the season and the targets we set were to secure a place in the Heineken Cup and to win the Challenge Cup. It's wonderful as a director of rugby to achieve both of those. It's been a fantastic day."
But the last word had to go to the retiring Basil as he said: "I enjoyed it and that's the way I want to remember my last game for Sale. Winning the Challenge Cup was a good way to end my club career. I've had a wonderful five years at Sale and leave the club in good health." He's not wrong.