With so few England-qualified players in the Northampton team it is bad luck when an international picks up an injury. However, Andy Robinson can brace himself for a phone call today telling him that Steve Thompson is doubtful for the autumn internationals.
The England hooker sprung a rib eight minutes into the game and, although Northampton are so far ruling him out of only their Heineken Cup match with Glasgow next Sunday, it is not the kind of injury that is easily covered up in an international front row.
Just how much of a loss England would rate their erratic hooker at the moment is open to doubt but Thompson is yet another of the World Cup winners either doubtful or unavailable as Robinson prepares for his first match in charge. And, with three club matches to go before England meet Canada on November 13, things could get worse.
"Every year it gets harder," said the Sale director of rugby, Philippe Saint-André, after both sides finished with 14 men, having exhausted their supplies of replacements, and with Chris White ordering uncontested scrums for the final 32 minutes.
The game, which had 15 minutes of added time, was scarred by injuries from the first blood wound in the third minute until the fourth official, Tony Spreadbury, called a halt to the stream of damaged bodies attempting to return from the bench.
Thompson went off after the Northampton scrum had twice gone backwards at a rate of knots, and was followed by Russell Kempson, who left in a haze after tangling with Sébastien Bruno.
Bruno was sin-binned but Guy Laporte, the French coach who was watching from the stand, had a much more rewarding afternoon than Robinson. Bruno, who is keeping one of Thompson's potential replacements, Andy Titterrell, out of Sale's starting line-up, was a powerhouse all afternoon, as was Sébastien Chabal.
The No8 arrived at Sale with a reputation for laziness and poor defensive discipline but Laporte has called both men into his squad and, when Andrew Sheridan was shoved over for Sale's first try in the 38th minute, it was no surprise that Chabal was alongside him.
From then until Mark Cueto sprinted 90 yards for Sale's second try in the dying minutes the game lost shape as the wounded were replaced. Northampton benefited from a lack of confrontation up front and looked less like a side who have been beaten five times in a row.
They have scored only one try in those games and on Saturday Ben Cohen returned after three weeks on the bench and desperate to keep his England place. He burst his lungs looking for work but was left a lonely spectator when Shane Drahm aimed the kind of cross-field kick that the wing once turned into tries for England.
Unfortunately the boot was an ounce short on oomph and Cueto - who is getting good reports from the England camp - got a fingertip to the ball, juggled it for two strides and was gone, leaving Cohen grasping at thin air.
Northampton: Drahm (Patston, 82); Human, Stcherbina, Hyndman (Tucker, 72), Cohen; Reihana, Robinson (Howard, 87); Smith, Thompson (Richmond, 8), Kempson (Morris,18; Seely, 49), Boome, Lord (Browne, 73), Fox, Krige (capt), Blowers.
Pens: Drahm 2.
Sale: Robinson (capt); Cueto, Taumalolo (Rhys-Jones, 45), Todd, Moore (Hercus, 60); Hodgson, Martens (Redpath, 77); Sheridan (Stewart, 79), Bruno, Turner (Titterrell, 59), Schofield (Day, 52), Jones, White (Anglesea, 73), Lund, Chabal.
Tries: Sheridan, Cueto. Cons: Hodgson 2. Pens: Hodgson 3.
Sin-bin: Bruno, 18.
Referee: C White (Cheltenham).
Attendance: 11,365.
