It was a soggy afternoon in West Yorkshire but nothing could rain on Sale's parade yesterday. Thanks to Charlie Hodgson's winning drop-goal 10 minutes from time the visitors returned to the top of the Premiership and now have its only 100% record.
Sale's spirits were on the damp side afterwards, however, and nobody was kidding themselves that the challenges from Leicester, who they leapfrogged to the top spot, and Wasps will be easily overcome on this form.
Jason Robinson, Sale's captain, was blunt. "I suppose when I've got showered and have got home tonight I'll reflect that five out of five is not a bad start but our discipline is not good enough and we made too many mistakes. In the end our character got us through but we didn't play to anything like our true ability."
Hodgson won a similarly tight game at Wasps three weeks earlier with a late drop-goal and his absence will be felt next month when a raft of Sale players, including Robinson, can expect to be on international duty. Sale may not have the strength in depth to maintain a genuine title challenge but they are comfounding the critics who forecast a struggle after the loss of so many players in the summer.
Philippe Saint-André's replacements though had been an instant success. None more so than the No8 Sébastien Chabal. The last French footballer to make this much impact in Manchester was Eric Cantona and the strapping Chabal was to the fore again yesterday.
"He's made a massive impact," added Robinson. "He's the sort of player you want on your side if your forwards are going to compete with the likes of [Lawrence] Dallaglio and [Martin] Johnson."
Sale can stretch their lead at the top if they overcome London Irish on Friday but, the odd counter-attack by Robinson apart, there was little to be seen of the polished back play that had destroyed Worcester nine days earlier. Sale's director of rugby Saint-André claims to have the best back three in the land but little was seen of their potent wings Mark Cueto and Steve Hanley. Saint-André attributed that to the conditions, but there were also numerous errors and some brave defence by Leeds which was not good enough to prevent a third successive home defeat.
Two similar moves at the start and end of the first half helped divide the sides. When Sale kicked an early penalty to the corner their hooker Andy Titterrell was driven over for a try. When Leeds tried the same tactic just before the break after Chris Jones had been penalised for a high tackle on Tom Biggs, the Sale pack managed to hold the charging Leeds forwards at bay.
Leeds fashioned a try 15 minutes after the interval in a rare foray into the visitors' 22. Chris Bell's break gave Diego Albanese an opportunity to go over in the corner. Hodgson halted the Argentinian but Bell followed up to snaffle his first try for Leeds since his move from Harlequins last summer.
Gordon Ross and Hodgson exchanged a couple of penalties each and Leeds were always competitive. But they suffered an early blow when their England hooker Mark Regan left the field with an injured hand and they struggled badly in the scrums.
Iain Balshaw may return for next Sunday's meeting here with Worcester. Those two sides are level on points near the bottom and Leeds look set for a long hard winter if they are to avoid the fate of the city's football team next spring. Yesterday's meagre crowd of 4,592 was swelled by the noisier visiting fans, but the 15-man code will never pack in the type of crowds that had flocked to Headingley the previous evening to watch Leeds Rhinos. And games like this will not help.
Leeds: Albanese; Rees, Bell, Snyman, Biggs (Stimpson, h-t); Ross, Dickens; Shelley, Regan (Rawlinson, 11), Kerr (Holt 70), Hooper, Murphy (capt), Dunbar (Uys, 60), Park, Rigney.
Try: Bell. Pens: Ross 2.
Sale: Robinson (capt); Cueto, Rhys-Jones, Todd, Hanley; Hodgson, Martens (Redpath, h-t); Sheridan, Titterrell, Stewart (Turner, 42), Day (Schofield, 73), White (Bruno, 69), Jones, Lund, Chabal (Caillet, 69).
Try: Titterrell. Pens: Hodgson 2. Drop goal: Hodgson.
Referee: S Lander (Liverpool). Att: 4.592.
