Sale's hopes of marking the departure of their director of rugby, Philippe Saint-André, with a return to Twickenham, the scene of his greatest triumph with them when he won the Premiership in 2006, were laid to rest when news dribbled through of victories for Bath and London Irish which removed the Sharks' outside chance of making the play-offs.
But Kingsley Jones, Saint-André's former assistant who stepped up to succeed him when the Frenchman's decision to join Toulon was confirmed in January, argued after an enjoyable four-try win that the damage had been done in the first half of the season.
"The period that killed us was during the autumn internationals," he said, notwithstanding a run of five consecutive away defeats since January and an especially costly home loss to Newcastle in March. "With a squad of 31 men, and six or seven kids, and to then be without up to 10 current internationals is very difficult. That is something we have identified and something going forward that we will change."
The problem will be solved partly by the departure of several of those internationals, who will mostly be joining Saint-André in France next season. Sébastien Chabal and Luke McAlister are the highest profile men on the move, but with Chabal subdued and McAlister injured here, the Argentinian No8 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe confirmed that he will be the hardest man to replace, scoring the Sharks' only first-half try and working tirelessly.
Sections of Sale's support are worried by the calibre of the replacements signed so far but the club's owner, Brian Kennedy – who is now expected to drop the club's appeal against the one-point penalty imposed for fielding an unregistered player – insisted again after this third consecutive failure to make the top four that his financial commitment remains as strong as ever.
Nevertheless Jim Mallinder, Saint-André's predecessor at Sale who has re-established Northampton in the Premiership after a stint with the Rugby Football Union, arguably has more reason to look forward to next season with optimism. The Saints have already made one eyecatching signing in the England fly-half Shane Geraghty, from London Irish, and although this game marked the retirement of the front-row stalwarts Barry Stewart and Tom Smith, Mallinder is confident of assembling a squad to build on this year's impressive consolidation.
"To finish eighth and get to two semi-finals has been quite good, and next year we've got to improve on that," he said. "We should be looking to be a top-four club."
Northampton's season is not over yet – although this defeat, and Wasps' victory over Gloucester which displaced the Saints from seventh, removed one chance of qualifying for the Heineken Cup, they have another crack in the European Challenge Cup. That explained Mallinder's decision to rest several senior players ahead of Friday's semi-final against Saracens.
That provided a rare first-team chance for Chris Ashton, the young full-back who is in his second full season after switching codes from Wigan. He failed to make an impact on this return close to his league roots in front of his role model, Jason Robinson, who will coach Sale next season. Ashton earned 10 minutes in the sin-bin for delaying a quick lineout late in the first half before he was substituted midway through the second. Mallinder, however, remains encouraged by his progress.
Sale Macleod; Cueto, M Tait, Tuilagi (Keil, 49), Ripol (Kuadey, 66); Hodgson, Wigglesworth (Peel, 65); Faure (Sheridan, 45), Bruno, Roberts (Turner, 73), Chabal, Schofield (D Tait, 70), Jones (White, 57), Briggs, JM Fernandez Lobbe .
Tries Fernández Lobbe, Roberts, Schofield, M Tait. Cons Hodgson 2.
Northampton Ashton (Dickson, 60); Diggin, Ansbro, Clarke (Mayor, 63), Lamont; Myler (Everitt, 73), Foden; Tonga'uiha (Gray, 60), Sharman, Stewart (Smith, 60), I Fernández Lobbe (Day, 67), Lawes, Best, Gray, Easter (Hopley, 63).
Tries Best, Lamont. Con Myler. Pens Myler 2.
Sin-bin Ashton 36
Referee C White. Attendance 9,724.
