Sale will qualify for next season's Heineken Cup if they defeat Leeds at Heywood Road on Wednesday night after yesterday's deceptively comfortable victory over one of their rivals for a European berth. It is a cruel irony, then, that the club's long-term future remains in the financial balance despite a season in which they have been the most eye-catching side in the Premiership.
London Irish have faltered since winning the Powergen Cup last month but even at their best they would have struggled to stay with Sale in this form. The Sharks moved the ball swiftly at the point of contact and created space whereas Irish tended to go to ground and failed to free many runners out wide.
The Exiles salvaged two bonus points in the eighth minute of stoppage time when the replacement back-row Eddie Halvey scored their fourth try and reduced Sale's winning margin to four points but, with their final two games at Newcastle and the champions Leicester, the Exiles are worryingly within range of the Falcons and Northampton.
Sale, in third four points behind Gloucester with a game in hand, host the relegation strugglers Leeds and Harlequins in the next week with the final runners-up position a live prospect. Yet, despite the club's league position, their place in the Parker Pen Shield final later this month and their on-field enterprise, gates at Heywood Road are the lowest in the Premiership.
The club's chairman Brian Kennedy has described attendances as "pathetic, miserable and shocking". Sale will play their home matches next season on Friday nights and Kennedy has warned that the club will not survive as a professional force unless the crowd base expands.
"It is a shame we cannot fill our own stadium," said Sale's coach Jim Mallinder. "Playing in the Heineken Cup means everything to us; we play attractive, winning rugby and we have some of the best players in their positions in the world. That extra level of competition could make the difference as far as attendances are concerned."
The Exiles' coach Gary Gold said that Sale had played a simple game here, defending well and cashing in on errors with clinical efficiency, but that told only half the story. Irish were too predictable and rarely created doubt in the minds of defenders.
Sale, in contrast, had two half-back schemers in Bryan Redpath and Charlie Hodgson, players with spatial awareness. While Irish never stopped trying - their bonus points were a reward for industry after they had trailed 36-18 with three minutes to go - Sale showed they will be a force in Europe next season.
Sale took a lead they were never to lose after five minutes when Hodgson's clever chip into space was gathered by Jason Robinson. Irish replied when the full-back Michael Horak crossed for the fifth match in a row but they lacked Sale's spark, perspiration losing out to inspiration.
Redpath set up Sale's second try with a typical sniping run but it was the Scotland scrum-half's brilliance 10 minutes after the restart that killed the contest. It came when Sale were awarded a scrum after Steve Hanley had saved a try by stopping the Irish wing Paul Sackey from grounding.
Redpath darted up the left wing to conjure a counter- attack that was finished in the opposite corner by Martin Shaw after the ball had gone between 10 pairs of hands. Chris Jones' jinking 35-yard score and a try by Hodgson followed.
London Irish: Horak; Sackey, Venter, Appleford, Bishop; Everitt, Edwards; Hatley (Wheatley, 54), Drotske (Kirke, 46), Hardwick (Halford, 46), Strudwick (capt), Fahrensohn (Delaney, 60), Gustard, Danaher (Halvey, h-t), Sheasby.
Tries: Horak, Bishop, Delaney, Halvey. Cons: Everitt 3. Pens: Everitt 2.
Sale: Robinson; Cueto, Shaw, Harris (Deane, 37; Baxendell, 78), Hanley; Hodgson, Redpath (capt); Yates (Stewart, 68), Marais (Titterell, 68), Turner, Fullarton, Jones (Giacheri, 73), Sanderson, Pinkerton, Anglesea (Wilks, 68).
Tries: Robinson, Anglesea, Shaw, Jones, Hodgson. Cons: Hodgson 4. Pen: Hodgson.
Attendance: 6,076.
Referee: A Spreadbury (Keynsham).
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