Committed Sale bounce back to beat Saracens despite Vermeulen red card

Saracens 17-21 Sale

Jibulu, O’Flaherty and Bamber among Sale try-scorers

After a deeply disappointing opening weekend this was much more like it from Sale’s perspective. Committed and cussed from start to finish, the Sharks ultimately deserved this unexpected success over a Saracens side who seldom made it beyond second gear, even against opponents who were reduced to 13 at one stage in the first quarter.

Tries for Nathan Jibulu, Tom O’Flaherty and Ben Bamber, underpinned by the experience of George Ford and Tom Curry, proved enough to overcome a patchy Saracens, despite the loss of Jacques Vermeulen to a 20-minute red card after just 17 minutes. To compound Sarries’ pain, their England international duo of Theo Dan and Elliot Daly departed prematurely in the second half while Alfie Barbeary lasted only 40 minutes.