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Sale Sharks 35 Castres 3

Jenny Dixon
21/12/2005

Heineken Cup

THERE was something of a French revolution at Edgeley Park on Friday night, and at its heart was the club's Gallic cult hero Sebastien Chabal.

The number eight celebrated his new three-year deal with Sharks with a brace of tries against Castres Olympique, giving Sale a bonus point and boosting further the club's chances of claiming a quarter-final spot in the Heineken Cup for the first time ever.

Most impressive was Chabal's 50-metre dash to the try-line. Fans, more accustomed to his hard-hitting tackling, witnessed the rampaging forward outpace Castres' backs to touch down his second try.

The match didn't start in such gripping fashion, Sharks' account was opened by three penalties from the boot of Charlie Hodgson.

Full-back Romain Teulet posted just one penalty in reply, Castres only score of the match.

It worsened for the visitors when their hooker David Roumieu was sin-binned and Castres were immediately punished when a powerful Sharks' drive allowed man-of-the-match Chabal to score, Hodgson converting to give Sale a 16-3 lead at the interval.

Chabal's blazing run to the try-line, after intercepting a pass, was a great start to the second half for Sale, and their tally was boosted by skipper Jason Robinson's try.

But Sharks, without prolific try-scorer Mark Cueto, who was forced off the pitch by a hip injury, had to wait until added time before the bonus point was secured with a try from substitute Robert Todd.

Director of rugby, Philippe Saint-Andre, said: "Before the game I would have settled for a win and scoring four tries, but I don't think it was our best performance. What is good is that this team can improve 40 per cent from this."

SALE: Larrechea; Cueto (Mayor 34), Taylor (Todd 65), Seveali'i (Coutts 79), Robinson (capt); Hodgson, Martens (Courrent 51); Sheridan, Bruno (Titterrell 63), Turner (Stewart 63), Jones, Schofield (Lobbe 51), White, Lund, Chabal.