Connacht weren't really sure how to take this one. Significantly depleted and a little ring rusty, they came desperately close to achieving what would have been their best result in years by beating one of the form sides in England yet they'll also rue the missed chances and missed tackling which helped cost them the match.
By the same token, it would have been a steal, for Sale were the better team over the 80 minutes and looked the more cohesive, potent side but missed many chances themselves. That said Sale's handling lapses in the Connacht 22 and their own loose tackling belied their status as currently the second best side in England.
Connacht were arguably shorn of their ball-carrying hooker Marnus Uijs, primary ball-winner and onfield leader Mark McConnell, and Johnny O'Connor, invariably the forward who makes most of their big plays. Their fourth key man, Eric Elwood, came into the game with a groin strain which was clearly affecting him from the start.
Bearing all that in mind, Connacht's performance was testimony to the strides they have made under Steph Nel. Chief source of inspiration was their nippy and impressive scrum-half Eoin Reddan, who was watched closely by Warren Gatland. The third of the scrum-half clan of brothers to play for Connacht, the 20-year-old former Irish schools' and under-21 player took the game to Sale irreverently from the off, and Dan McFarland's early try was fair reward for the second of two searing breaks by Reddan.
A second try by one of their most consistent players, Tim Allnutt, in response to one by their former team-mate Bernard Jackman gave them a promising buffer but as Nel lamented afterwards: "We started off playing brilliantly but then we stopped and didn't play for 20 minutes at all."
The most uncharacteristic aspect of Connacht's display though, was their tackling, or more to the point their missed tackles. "I'm not going to criticise the lads, they've tried very hard but Johnny (O'Connor) normally makes about 17 or 18 tackles in a game, Marnus makes about nine or ten, and you'll miss those." Despite missing a tackle or two himself in his conversion to openside for the day, no-one tried more gamely than the all-action, all-purposeful Paul Neville.
"How we went in at half-time only leading by a point was incredible," lamented Nel's counterpart Jim Mallender, and aside from missed chances Gavin Duffy deserves credit for holding Alan Dickens up over the line. The try that did help them into a one-point interval lead owed much to Wayne Munn being handed off a mite too easily by Mark Cueto before the winger put flanker Richard Wilks over.
Connacht will also wonder should they have shown faith in Mark McHugh earlier than they did, as the struggling Elwood missed a penalty to the corner from which Sale came downfield for Charles Hodgson to make it 21-17 either side of the out-half missing two kickable penalties.
Cue McHugh, who kicked a couple of penalties either side of Neville almost reaching the line from another quick tap and snipe by Reddan, and then instigated a brilliant move from inside his own 22 with a feint to kick and run. Pat Duignan and Neville linked but Junior Charlie's inside pass to Duignan was awry with the winger having a clear run to the line.
Even when again falling 10 points adrift to Andy Titterell's try, there was time for McHugh to add the touchline conversion to an opportunist Duigan try, which merely will have hardened Connacht thoughts about what might have been.
Scoring sequence: 5 mins - McFarland try, Elwood con 7-0; 7 mins - Jackman try 7-5; 14 mins - Allnutt try, Elwood con 14-5; 19 mins - Hodgson pen 14-8; 37 mins - Wilks try, Hodgson con 14-15; 38 mins - Elwood pen 17-15; 40 mins - Hodgson pen 17-18; (half-time 17-18); 43 mins - Hodgson pen 17-21; 56 mins - Anglesea try, Hodgson con 17-28; 65 mins McHugh pen 20-28; 71 mins - McHugh pen 23-28; 77 mins - Titterell try 23-33; 80 mins - Duignan try, McHugh con 30-33.
Connacht: G Duffy; P Duignan, D Yapp, T Allnutt, W Munn; E Elwood, E Reddan; D McFarland (capt), T Kearns, P Bracken, R Frost, D Browne, J Charlie, C Rigney, P Neville. Replacements: M McHugh for Elwood (55 mins), R McCormack for Bracken, H Bourke for Kearns, A Maher for Browne (all 66 mins), M McPhail for Yapp (75 mins).
Sale: V Going; M Cueto, M Shaw, M Deane, S Hanley; C Hodgson, A Dickens; K Yates, B Jackman, A Black, I Fullarton, S Lines, P Anglesea, S Pinkerton, R Wilks. Replacements: A Elliott for Hanley (49 mins), A Sanderson for Wilks (57 mins), A Titterell for Jackman, S Turner for Yates (both 64 mins), M Giacheri for Lines (70 mins), J Bramhall for Dickens (78 mins).
Referee: M Salera (Italy).
