Sale Sharks player ratings: Noah Caluori feasts on ‘defensive disasterclass’ as only ‘one positive’ comes from 85-point mauling
Tom O'Flaherty was the one positive for Sale Sharks.
Following an 85-19 defeat to Saracens in a one-sided PREM Rugby clash at the CorpAcq Stadium on Sunday, here are our player ratings for Sale Sharks.
The backs
15 Rob du Preez: In an unfamiliar jersey today and struggled both with and without the ball. Defensively, the South African slipped three tackles in the first half, and in the second, he threw a pass straight to Noah Caluori to gift the Saracens youngster a walk-in for his hat-trick. 4
14 Tom O’Flaherty: The one positive for Sale in an otherwise dismal afternoon. Always a threat with his pace and elusiveness and fully deserved his two tries on the day, which more than made up for a blunder in his own in-goal. Can certainly hold his head high tonight. 8
13 Marius Louw: Coughed up possession under no real pressure on 37 minutes that ultimately led to Caluori’s second score. The former Lion never stopped trying, though with 14 carries on the day, albeit they failed to cause much damage against an inspired Saracens team. 5
12 Rekeiti Maasi-White: Struggled to have the desired gainline impact he often does as Maasi-White, like the majority of his team, came off second best to their opposite number. 4
11 Tom Roebuck: It’s fair to say he lost his one-on-one battle with England rival Caluori, who scored five tries today. Roebuck made 11 carries for 56 metres, but that was dwarfed by Caluori, who will give him a restless sleep this evening. 5
10 George Ford: Speaking of nightmares, fly-halves have little to no chance when their team is utterly dominated in all departments, and Ford found the going tough with ball in hand, and that’s in part credit to the Saracens’ defence. Targeted with ball in hand by the visitors and did not fire a shot on attack. 4
9 Gus Warr: Will have been disappointed how he fell off Rotimi Segun for the Saracens wing’s early try, but always looked to keep the tempo high at the base. Replaced on 50 minutes. 4
The forwards
8 Sam Dugdale: Sale’s injury-hit back-row saw Dugdale fill in at number eight, and defence was the order of the day, finishing on 14 tackles in an otherwise quiet hour’s work. 4
7 Jos Gilmore: Departed due to injury on 63 minutes and had emptied the tank prior to that, making 17 tackles against a far superior Saracens forward pack. 5
6 Jacques Vermeulen: Unusually quiet in terms of numbers on the board as Vermeulen could only amass three carries and made five tackles, missing one. Replaced on the hour. 3
5 Ben Bamber: Got through plenty of work defensively with 19 tackles to his name and was his usual energetic self around the field, albeit in a losing cause. 6
4 Ernst van Rhyn: A tough job leading under these circumstances. Van Rhyn put in his usual shift defensively but being stepped by Max Malins from a first-half kick return that resulted in Caluori’s first try will sting.
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3 James Harper: An unwanted mismatch against Malins after Van Rhyn was rounded saw the tighthead skinned. The set-piece was fairly even during his time on the field. 4
2 Ethan Caine: Will lament an overthrown lineout in the Saracens red zone on 29 minutes as Sale looked to strike back and stop the bleeding. That was repeated early in the second half in a forgetful 50-minute showing that was salvaged somewhat by his 18 tackles. 4
1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour: At fault for at least one of Saracens’ six tries in the opening half as first he couldn’t stop a rampaging Rhys Carre and soon after went too high on Fergus Burke for his incredible solo try. Far from his best day with six missed tackles in all, forming part of a defensive disaster class from Sale, but was salvaged somewhat by his late try. 3
Replacements: The oldest player on the bench was 24, which sums up the inexperienced options available to Alex Sanderson right now. As expected, Saracens turned the screw in the closing stages with Alfie Longstaff putting himself about. 4
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