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Newcastle jinx is over

Jenny Dixon
10/ 9/2008

MATHEW Tait’s return to his former club Newcastle Falcons coincided with the end of Sharks’ 16-game jinx in the north-east.

However, it was not England international Tait who scored the decisive try in Sunday’s 14-9 victory but long-serving Sale fly-half Charlie Hodgson.

Hodgson admitted: "It’s nice to finally lay that one to rest and know that Newcastle are not a bogey team for us."

Tait was one of four players to make their Premiership debut for Sharks on Sunday, along with Wales scrum-half Dwayne Peel, David Doherty and Luke Abraham.

None of the new signings made headline-grabbing performances in the conservative match, but Sharks’ director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre was impressed nonetheless.

"I think they did the basics well," he explained. "At Newcastle when you make a mistake you are punished. We didn’t give Newcastle the opportunity to punish us.

"They worked hard for the team. You can have some nice players on paper but what is important is to have a good team."

But lessons must also be learned from Sharks’ performance at Newcastle, according to Hodgson.

"I think we’re slightly guilty of relaxing too early in the game and feeling the game is won with about 15 minutes to go. We do tend to make things hard for ourselves..."

"That is something we’ll have to work on this season if we want to compete with the better teams in the league, the likes of Leicester and Gloucester, Bath and Wasps," explained Hodgson.

In their next game, on Friday night, Sharks take on Saracens at Edgeley Park.

It is a match former London Wasps player Doherty, who started on the wing for Sharks on Sunday, is looking forward to.

Doherty did not get many opportunities with the ball against Newcastle, due to the wet conditions, but better weather on Friday would allow Sale’s new backs to showcase their skills.

Doherty said: "I think the conditions [at Newcastle] meant we kicked more than we usually would.

"I got a few [runs with the ball] from counter attack. I was happy with that, that’s my part of the game, if I get a chance then I’ll put it away.

"I’m just looking forward to Saracens this week. Obviously [how we will play] depends on conditions, if it is very wet again we’re going to have to play territory but if the sun shines then we’ve got the players to play that as well."

Hodgson believes that Sharks’ backline will be a formidable force given the right conditions.

"There’s a lot pace in the backline.

"We just need to get some decent ball to them and do some good stuff with it," he explained.

"We’ll look to be dangerous throughout the backline and hopefully we can use these guys to score some points."