George Ford’s hopes for a return to the England squad have taken a detour, as the fly half pulled up with a leg injury in this afternoon’s Premiership match between Sale and Saracens. The Sharks man was withdrawn after just four minutes at the StoneX Stadium, after picking up a quad injury as he attempted to kick a penalty.
Ford did not feature for England throughout the 2024 Summer Tour of Japan and New Zealand, as he was recovering from an Achilles injury. The halfback could well be out of action from Steve Borthwick’s side for the upcoming Autumn Internationals, with a grudge match against the All Blacks coming up in November at the Allianz Stadium.
It took just three minutes until the point scoring got underway, with Ford’s educated feet taking the Sharks to an early lead. Continuing his fine form from the tee against London based opponents, Ford followed up on his sharpshooting efforts against Harlequins last Sunday, to strike home the first three points from the Saracens 10m line.
Ford followed this up with a second effort at the uprights just a minute later, with Saracens again penalised for poor discipline in contact. However, Ford’s effort from inside his own half fell off to the side of the posts, with Saracens remaining in touching distance of the visitors. That would be Ford’s final involvement of the match, as the fly half pulled up with an injury after his second shot at goal.
Sale were first to cross the whitewash, with Alex Sanderson’s men hitting double figures after 20 minutes in North London. The move started with a great line break from Rob du Preez, who sent an audacious offload to the supporting Sam Bedlow.
The replacement fly half was tackled close to the Saracens try-line, and scrum-half Gus Warr was quickest to react. The halfback picked around the edge of the breakdown and raced away beyond the posts to dot the ball down. A simple conversion followed for Rob du Preez’ first shot at goal.
Saracens returned fire from the tee just a couple of minutes later, with Elliot Daly stepping up for a colossal attempt at the posts. The England fullback sent the ball sailing through the sticks with air to spare from just inside the Sale half. The metronomic ticking of the scoreboard continued, along with the sharpshooting from both sides off the tee.
Saracens made good upon their first trip to Sale’s red zone, as ‘welcome to the danger zone’ blared through the StoneX speakers. After squandering a penalty advantage, Alex Lozowski made no mistake in sending the subsequent penalty through the sticks, and narrowing the deficit to just one point (10-9).
Saracens clawed a point in front after their fourth penalty went through the posts. There was an extra blow for Sale, as blindside flanker Sam Dugdale was sent to the sin bin, following his head to head collision with Ben Earl, as the England back row drove for the try-line. Lozowski added the penalty from close range as Sarries took a 12-11 lead.
Yet there was one more twist in the first half tale, as Sale re-claimed the lead with the final kick. The move started following a seismic shift from the Sharks forwards, as they stole the ball against the head in the scrum, and Du Preez sent the following penalty to touch. The Sharks fizzed the ball across the pitch, with Tom O’Flaherty flying along at break neck speed, into a stunning tackle from Rotimi Segun.
Despite the efforts of the Saracens wing to bring the Sale speedster into his clutches, there was illegal action in the following ruck with the Sharks awarded another penalty. Rob du Preez sent his side into the lead one point to the good of their hosts, to reclaim the slender lead for the following 40 minutes.
HALF TIME SCORE: SARACENS 12 – 13 SALE SHARKS
There was another potential injury scare for England fans, as Maro Itoje was removed one minute into the second half. It is uncharacteristic to see the lock run out for anything less than the full 80 minutes, yet Mark McCall withdrew his skipper, with Nick Isiekwe taking his place. Alex Lozowski re-started the now well used StoneX shot clock, as he added two further penalties to the ever growing Saracens lead, at the 44th and 46th minute marks.
It was then time for one of the most exciting young Premiership talents to stretch their legs, as Tobias Elliott sped away for Saracens’ first try of the afternoon. The highly rated 21-year-old found the ball in space, after Alex Lozowski split the Sale defence with a clever line break. Elliott had plenty to do, as he stepped his way past two bright orange defenders, who were left red in the face after the tricky display of footwork.
Lozowski followed up the try assist with a well taken conversion from the touch-line, but Sale would retaliate by closing down the gap from the tee once again. Rob du Preez swung his boot for a solid penalty from distance, for a 25-16 score-line heading into the last 20 minutes.
Sale would not lie down in defeat, and defied their hosts with a try just beyond the hour mark. You could hear a pin drop at the StoneX stadium as the rolling maul silenced the crowd, with small pockets of travelling fans roaring in approval of Luke Cowan-Dickie’s try. The kick from the side-line was too challenging for du Preez, who had the setting sun in his eyes to boot.
The Saracens fans were soon back in full voice, as Elliot Daly lifted their spirits with a try just a minute later. Alex Goode stubbed a grubber kick through the wall of orange jerseys, as Daly gathered the bouncing ball and powered over Gus Warr, to rebuild Saracens’ nine-point lead at 30-21.
Jamie George made his mark off the bench, as the England captain added a try for Saracens to twist the knife in on the Sharks. Closing the match out as a contest, George commanded the rolling maul, as he started and finished the set-piece move with a try. An additional Alex Lozowski penalty added additional breathing space for the Londoners, with smiles all round for the North London locals.
Sale grabbed a consolation score at the death, as wing Tom O’Flaherty broke away along the left touchline after supporting a two-on-one. In what was the final act of the afternoon, Saracens re-started the match and Tobias Elliott expertly collected the ball for a final Sarries attack. The men in black flung the ball wide to Daly who was inches away from grounding another chip and chase. The play was pulled back for a penalty, with Sale back row Sam Dugdale issued with his second yellow and subsequent red card for the breakdown offence.
Elliot Daly had the final score of the match, as Saracens switched the play wide to the fullback, following numerous pick and drives at the Sale try-line. Daly watched the miss-pass into his grasp and waltzed in to score, before Lozowski wrapped up the match with a well taken conversion from out-wide.
SARACENS: 45
TRIES: 4 (Elliott 52′, Daly 63′, 80′, George 70′)
CONVERSIONS: 2 (Lozowski 52′, 80′)
PENALTIES: 7 (Lozowski 10′, 28′, 37′, 44′, 46′, 74′, Daly 24′)
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 0
RED CARDS: 0
15. Elliot Daly. 14. Tobias Elliott 13. Alex Lozowski 12. Nick Tompkins 11. Rotimi Segun 10. Fergus Burke 9. Ivan van Zyl 1. Rhys Carre 2. Theo Dan 3. Marco Riccioni 4. Maro Itoje (c) 5. Hugh Tizard 6. Andy Onyeama-Christie 7. Ben Earl 8. Tom Willis
Replacements:
16. Jamie George 17. Sam Crean 18. Alec Clarey 19. Nick Isiekwe 20. Theo McFarland 21. Toby Knight 22. Charlie Bracken 23. Alex Goode
SALE SHARKS: 26
TRIES: 3 (Warr 21′, Cowan-Dickie 61′, O’Flaherty 79′)
CONVERSIONS: 1 (R. Du Preez 21′)
PENALTIES: 3 (Ford 3′, R. Du Preez 40′, 55′)
DROP GOALS 0
YELLOW CARDS: 2 (Dugdale 36′, 80′)
RED CARDS: 1 (Dugdale 80′)
15. Joe Carpenter 14. Tom Roebuck 13. Waisea Nayacalevu 12. Rob du Preez 11. Tom O’Flaherty 10. George Ford 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyr, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour 4. Ben Bamber 5. Hyron Andrews 6. Sam Dugdale 7. Ben Curry © 8. Jean-Luc du Preez.
Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine 17. Tumy Onasanya 18. James Harper 19. Josh Beaumont 20. Rouban Birch 21. Nye Thomas 22. Sam Bedlow 23. Will Addison.
5 TALKING POINTS: SARACENS 45 – 26 SALE SHARKS
1. England fly half George Ford set for scan after suffering quad injury
Sale Sharks suffered a significant injury blow in the early goings of the match, as their fly half talisman George Ford departed the StoneX Stadium. Ford was ushered off the pitch, yet was able to walk off on his own two feet, after picking up a quad injury just four minutes into the match. Ford sustained the injury as he kicked at goal, in what was his second attempt at the sticks. Sale Sharks Head of Medical Navdeep Sandhu provided an update after the match.
“George, yes, just about his quad. So when he went for that long distance kick, he felt like he could carry on, but that was just slightly aware of it. I suspected that that would probably mean it would get worse and worse as it goes, so we decided to make the change. We’ll get him in there. And, yeah, he’s a little bit sore, too bad.”
“It’s probably too early to say (how long Ford will be out for). The fact that we’re going to get an image on it, probably means that we suspected something.”
Saracens centre Alex Lozowski spoke on the early exit for Ford, and how it impacted his opponents this afternoon.
“When any team loses their best player in a minute and a half, or two minutes, it’s going to be disruptive. Rob’s (Du Preez) great player as well. I think he did well stepping in at late notice. But obviously, you know, Rob would be the first say that ‘they wanted George to stay on’ and it probably didn’t help their cause.
“They had a couple of other injuries as well in the first half, which wouldn’t have helped them. So fair play to them for really sticking at it and making life difficult. And I think everyone knows that they’ll be competing the season.”
2. Sale Sharks Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson suffered two broken ribs in training
Sale Sharks Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson was out of the StoneX Stadium shortly after the full-time whistle and did not speak with the media. He had to take a private plane back up to Manchester with the club owners, as he was suffering from two fractured ribs, after a heavy coming together in training with Sharks wing Tom Roebuck. Sandhu provided the rather unexpected medical update on the club’s DoR.
“He got ran into by a player, and to be fair, the player didn’t make any gain line. So he got a couple of rib fractures for his troubles, so he’s pretty solid, so he’ll be top of the list.”
3. Saracens provide an injury update on captain Maro Itoje
There was a second injury scare for England fans, as lock Maro Itoje was withdrawn from the pitch one minute after the second half commenced. The issue seems to be surrounding one of Itoje’s knees, with Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall taking no chances in the health of his skipper. Speaking to the media after the match, McCall provided an update on Itoje.
“He’s got a bang on a grumbly knee, really, to be honest. And we took him off real quick just to preserve that, so he’d be fine. But whether he plays next week, I’m not sure.”
4. Tobias Elliott continues to impress in meteoric rise to Saracens stardom
Tobias Elliott is the newest young talent taking to the StoneX Stadium, having returned to the club from a season long loan out at Championship club Ampthill. The 21-year-old wing grabbed a well taken try against Sale, and has now doubled his tally for the season after opening up his account last weekend in Gloucester. Mark McCall is delighted to see his young flyer continue to impress.
“He’s doing well isn’t he. So he’s had two games, and not everything’s been perfect, and he’s made the odd error here and there. But he’s done a lot of brilliant things, and when he does make an error, what I’m most impressed with is how he forgets about it and does the next thing well. And that’s a really good trait in a young player.”
5. Lozowski is enjoying the goal kicking opportunities in Owen Farrell’s absence
The Saracens goal kicking duties had long belonged to Owen Farrell, when the former fly half led the men in black at the StoneX Stadium. However, following the departure of Farrell to Racing 92 this past Summer, the kicking opportunities have been opened up to the squad, with Lozowski nailing eight shots at the up rights this afternoon.
“I suppose I’ve waited about 10 years to have a crack at goal, with ‘Faz’ knocking about never got a chance! But no I’m only kidding. Ferg (Fergus Burke) is a top goal kicker as well, but our kicking coach, Dan Vickers today just gave me a tap on the shoulder about half an hour before the game, said ‘you’re gonna do it’. So I was like, ‘Yeah, cool’. It’s quite still. No breeze for the StoneX, so I couldn’t ask for much better conditions down here.”