An angry Alex Sanderson admitted to a sour aftertaste as Sale’s year-long unbeaten home record was brought to an end in controversial circumstances by Premiership leaders Bath. The Sale director of rugby’s usual zen calm went out of the window as his side ended up empty-handed after a defeat which leaves them with much to do from seventh place to make the play-offs.
The incident which riled him came six minutes from time as under-resourced Sharks, deprived of eight England players by pre-Six Nations mothballing, were pressing hard for the converted try that would have given them the lead at Salford Stadium. Wing Arron Reed split Bath’s defence open but some desperate cover from the visitors saw referee Karl Dickson award Bath a contentious breakdown penalty 10 metres from their own line and in a flash Finn Russell had hammered the penalty downfield into open space for substitute Tom Carr-Smith to win the race and score.
Tom Carr-Smith out of nowhere! What a bonus-point try for Bath 🤩#SALvBAT #GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/hahzhBHrhA. Game over. “That was the game. There were loads of opportunities when we could’ve taken the game away from them, but there was a 14-point swing there that I’m really struggling to get over,” said Sanderson.
“Honestly, I’ve got sour grapes. We’ll go through due process, look at the tapes, but I don’t have to look at them. There’s a hand on the floor, the ball is kicked four, five metres past the mark, yet the try stands. That’s the game, that’s where it went.
