Weather brings a halt to walking and Social Rugby here at the CorpAcq Stadium.
Due to the poor weather we have experienced over the last 48 hours, and the incoming Storm Hannah. The decision has been made to cancel both Walking and Social Rugby scheduled for tomorrow evening at the CorpAcq Stadium.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused, and hope that both will be back on in the next couple of weeks.
The rearranged fixture v Vale of Lune 2nd XV is OFF
This afternoon’s rescheduled 2nd team fixture versus Vale of Lune 2nd XV that was postponed from the beginning of February, due to snow and ice has been postponed again, as the Carrington pitches are unfit to be played on due to the large volumes of rain water that has fallen thanks to Storm Gareth and Storm Hannah, which has reached us overnight.
The likely rescheduled date for the game is Saturday 30th March 2019, as this is the next Weather Weekend that has been added into the fixture structure by the league.
However, we would suggest that you keep an eye on the website and the Cotton Traders Conference B pages for more details. To access the Cotton Traders Conference B pages please follow the link here
Loughborough Students 33 Sale FC Rugby 12
The latest away trip saw the dogs travel to Loughborough University to play the bottom-of-the-table side in blustery but dry conditions.
In the early exchanges, both sides looked to play fast, attacking rugby but the game remained scoreless until the 11th minute when the returning Gaz Rawlings soared above everyone at a 5 metre lineout to set up an unstoppable driving maul – Ryan Parkinson touching down. 0-5
With the stiff breeze behind them, Sale were beginning to dominate territory and, from another deep lineout, the forwards rumbled towards the line with the ref awarding a penalty try milliseconds before the unfortunate Rhys Davies dived over. 0-12
Far from being disheartened by the score line, the hosts continued to run the ball at every opportunity and in the 23rd minute their enterprise was rewarded with a try out wide to reduce the arrears. 7-12
Five minutes later, the scores were level as the home side’s forwards made plenty of yards before pacy winger, Will Brown, evaded the defence to sprint in. 12-12
Errors began to creep into the blue and whites’ game and, in the 36th minute, the Students took the lead with a fine try finished off by their flying prop forward, Andrew Nathan-Boye – Sale losing Gaz Rawlings to a yellow card in the process for an off the ball incident.
Half-time 19-12
The first 20 minutes of the 2nd half saw some scrappy play from both teams with neither side able to gain much momentum, but the hosts extended their advantage in the 63rd minute when they turned the ball over on Sale’s 22 and fed the ball to Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas to barge his way in. 26-12
The dogs looked to respond immediately as, following a good break from full-back, Robbie Povey, the forwards went through phase after phase near the hosts’ try line but the ranks of purple shirts stood firm, eventually turning the ball over and clearing their lines.
Any lingering hopes of a comeback were dashed in the 75th minute when Loughborough scored a 5th try through Cameron Jordan, with the vocal home support celebrating wildly. 33-12
With time ticking past the 80 minute mark, the blue and whites scored a consolation try as a 5 metre lineout, which had served them so well in the early stages of the match, was won for hooker, Christian Taylor, to cross the whitewash.
Full-time 33-17
A frustrating day for the blue and whites with the hosts belying their lowly league status to take the spoils and drag Sale back towards the dog-fight at the bottom, enhancing their own survival chances in the process.
To watch this week’s match highlights please click the link here
Sale FC Rugby have named their side to play against Loughborough Students.
After losing last week to Blackheath Rugby here at the CorpAcq Stadium, Sale FC Rugby get back on the road again after three home games on the bounce with a trip down to Loughborough Students.
Earlier on this season, Sale FC Rugby beat the Students in a close encounter winning the game 38-31, and scoring six tries to the visitors four tries respectively.
Looking to his weekend sees Sale FC make a number of changes to the starting line up including a return to the starting line up for Prop Simon Griffiths and Second Row Gareth Rawlings, who have both been injured over the last few months.
For more information about the starting line up for Sale FC Rugby please use the following link here
Sharks duo Dolly and Wilkinson get the call to play against their Italian counterparts at Goldington Road this Friday night.
This Friday evening, England U20’s are in action again once more when they face their Italian counterparts in the penultimate fixture of the U20’s Six Nations.
Ahead of the fixture Head Coach Steve Bates, named a side with three changes in it as they look to turn around their fortunes after they lost with the last play of the game against Wales two weeks ago at ZipWorld Stadiwm in Colwyn Bay.
The changes to the side sees James Scott replace Alex Coles in the Second Row, Exeter Chiefs and Plymouth Albion’s Rusiate Tuima starting at No.8, with Tom Willis moving to the blindside of the scrum.
The other change sees the injured Connor Doherty replaced by Tom Seabrook at Outside Centre. Importantly for the Sharks duo of Nic Dolly and Kieran Wilkinson, they are both retained in their starting positions of Hooker and Fly Half respectively.
During their U20’s Six Nations campaign, England have beaten World Champions France at Sandy Park in Round 2. However, they lost to the Irish in Round 1 by eight points, and the Welsh in Round 3 by one point.
The full line up for tomorrow’s game against Italy’s U20’s is as follows:
15. Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons), 14. Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), 13. Tom Seabrook (Gloucester Rugby), 12. Tom de Glanville (Bath Rugby), 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish), 10. Kieran Wilkinson (Sale Sharks), 9. Ollie Fox (Yorkshire Carnegie), 1. Olly Adkins (Gloucester Rugby), 2. Nic Dolly (Sale Sharks), 3. Alfie Petch (Exeter Chiefs), 4. Joel Kpoku (Saracens), 5. James Scott (Worcester Warriors), 6. Tom Willis (Wasps), 7. Aaron Hinkley (Gloucester Rugby), 8. Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs).
Replacements: 16. Samson Ma’asi (Northampton Saints), 17. Kai Owen (Worcester Warriors), 18. Jack Bartlett (Gloucester Rugby), 19. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), 20. Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs), 21. Sam Maunder (Exeter Chiefs), 22. Manu Vunipola (Saracens), 23. Jack Reeves (Gloucester Rugby).
The game from Goldington Road home of the Bedford Blues, is being shown live on Sky Sports from 7.45pm.
The game is completely sold out which is testament to the way the team has played over the course of their Six Nations campaign.
Sale FC Rugby’s four game unbeaten run comes to an end in an enthralling encounter at the CorpAcq Stadium.
Sale FC Rugby, unbeaten in their last four home games, succumbed to two late penalty tries having played three quarters of the match with 14 men, and the closing minutes with 13, the result of red cards received, one in each half.
Blackheath were quickly into their stride, winning a penalty in the first minute, kicked by centre Leo Fielding. Sale responded to the challenge, taking the game to the visitors and winning consecutive penalties, taking them within range of the posts, Calle Rivas taking his opportunity to equalise.
Back came Sale again another penalty taking them close to the Blackheath line. A clean take at the lineout by Postlethwaite providing a platform for a driving maul from which Priestley – Nangle burst over the line to score a well-deserved try. Within minutes, Blackheath levelled when winger Lloyd found himself in space on the left wing, scoring a try in the corner.
A pivotal moment in the game came in the 21st minute when the referee saw Sale prop Joe Kelly throw a punch in what appeared to be a retaliatory act, but never the less deemed worthy of a Red Card reducing Sale to 14 men. Despite the numerical disadvantage Sale stuck to their task and indeed had the better of the play taking the lead from a Calle Rivas penalty kick on the half hour mark, the score remaining on Sale FC 11 Blackheath 8 at half time.
The Second half began with Sale’s 14 men yet again taking the game to the visitors forcing a misdirected clearance kick and winning lineout possession. With centre Johnny Leota in the thick of things, a solid ruck provided the base to feed full back Povey who in turn linked up with winger Paolo Odogwu whose powerful run took him over in the corner for a try which was skilfully converted by Calle Rivas to take Sale FC into a 10 point lead.
Sale continued to retain their lead with a combination of solid defence and effective counter attacking when on 60 minutes Blackheath flanker Harry Bate won the ball just inside the Sale half, breaking free of the Sale defence to run the 45 metres to the try line to score under the posts. Having added the extra points, the score now tied on 18 points each.
As the match drew to a close and with the home team tiring as a result of their outstanding effort against superior numbers a procession of reset scrums concluded with a penalty try in the visitors favour taking them into a 7 point lead. Immediately following the restart, another punch was spotted by the referee who didn’t hesitate showing a red card to Sale hooker Neil Briggs.
The match concluded with another penalty try for Blackheath as the Sale pack struggled against a two man advantage.
Final Score: Sale FC Rugby 18 … Blackheath 32
To view the match highlights of the game please use the following link here