European Cup / Sale Sharks 16 Leinster 23: If Leinster season's is to be characterised by their obduracy in the dying seconds of yesterday's Heineken European Cup match at Edgeley Park then Gary Ella's side may just drag themselves to the play-offs. Sale pummelled the Leinster line, victory measured in millimetres.
When it mattered, really mattered, Leinster players stepped forward to make vital tackles - Ben Gissing on Jason Robinson emblematic of the resolve - bruised and battered bodies hauled off the turf to make just one more tackle. In the end the Irish province survived but it was an afternoon during which Ella will have aged horribly in the stands. It was a nerve-shredding denouement and it shouldn't have been.
Scrumhalf Brian O'Meara - he kicked very well for his five from seven attempts - had an opportunity from 30 metres, close to the touchline in the final minute of normal time. Had he succeeded, Leinster would have won by 10 points, denied Sale a bonus point and thereby edged ahead of the English side over the two legs.
It was his poorest strike of the afternoon. In a pool where the mathematics matter, these things may be revisited.
In truth Leinster deserved to win by more. They possessed a much more potent cutting edge and created more clear-cut opportunities, yet a lack of discipline kept Sale in the match.
None epitomised the flair behind the scrum more than Gordon D'Arcy, who enjoyed a brilliant afternoon. The role of outside centre may be relatively unfamiliar but it suits his free spirit. Once again he reinforced just how lethal a ball carrier he is and defensively he shut down Sale's wide game, two brilliantly timed tackles on Jason Robinson the highlights.
Many of Leinster's problems stemmed from poor set-piece play. They were penalised at two of the first four scrums and the communication channels suggested a different wavelength between hooker Shane Byrne and the lifters and jumpers at lineout time: there were far too many turnovers and it was a facet of play that degenerated into a liability.
It guaranteed that much of the pressure the visitors found themselves under was self inflicted and that extended beyond their early largesse in gifting Sale a 10-point start.
The attractions of Sale's touchline-to-touchline patterns are obvious but for all their adventure they rarely troubled a disciplined Leinster defence.
The Irish proved much more adept at breaching the first line of defence, D'Arcy and Christian Warner choosing beautiful angles and often bamboozling defenders with sleight of hand. It was just one such break from Warner that should have led to a try for Burke but the outhalf overthrew the pass in trying to thread it past a defender to his wing.
Sale outhalf Charlie Hodgson was gifted an easy three points on four minutes when Leinster were penalised for breaking early at a scrum.
Worse ensued 90 seconds later when Leinster least expected.
D'Arcy made a slashing break, possession was recycled twice, but as Shane Horgan probed the blind side, his chip was charged down and Sale wing Steve Hanley galloped 50 metres to score behind the posts - though video replays would indicate he had gathered from a position a couple of metres offside.
Hodgson converted and would subsequently add a penalty before he was forced off with a knee injury. His replacement, former Springbok Braam van Straaten, tagged on a penalty but missed two other opportunities early in the second half.
Leinster, for all their problems, showed steel, a commodity their critics had suggested was lacking, and stepped up to the plate.
Reggie Corrigan led by example, Malcolm O'Kelly personified the work ethic of the whole pack, while Keith Gleeson was superb in every facet of the game, Christian Warner no less effective. Even when Leinster lost two of their first-choice back-rowers in Eric Miller and Victor Costello, their replacements, Aidan McCullen and Des Dillon, didn't pale in comparison.
O'Meara's penalty left Leinster still teetering on a disaster at 13-3 but they responded by reducing the deficit to three points by the interval. Shane Horgan brushed aside a tackle, John McWeeney applied the coup de grâce and O'Meara posted a magnificent touchline conversion.
The scrumhalf tagged on a penalty and Leinster retired for an interval dressing down from the team management.
It certainly had an effect as within seven minutes of the interval they grabbed a second try, D'Arcy easing past a couple of tacklers and allowing Brendan Burke to finish.
O'Meara converted and added a penalty on 76 minutes and in between Leinster vacillated between the sublime and the downright rank.
They got the benefit of some poor refereeing decisions, not least in injury time when Rob Dickson adjudged a knock-on against Mark Cueto when it was knocked ball by a retreating Leinster player.
Teams need a little luck and in fairness to Leinster it would have been a travesty if they hadn't won this match.
Plenty to work on but that won't be a problem when you can still dream the dream.
Scoring sequence: 4 mins: Hodgson pen, 3-0; 6: Hanley try, Hodgson con, 10-0; 11: O'Meara pen, 10-3; 13: Hodgson pen, 13-3; 27: McWeeney try, O'Meara con, 13-10; 35: van Straaten pen, 16-10; 40 (+3): O'Meara pen, 16-13 (half-time 16-13); 47: Burke try, O'Meara con, 16-20; 76: O'Meara pen, 16-23.
SALE SHARKS: J Robinson; M Cueto, C Mayor, G Bond, S Hanley; C Hodgson, B Redpath; K Yates, M Cairns, S Turner, I Fullarton, D Schofield, J White, C Jones, A Sanderson (capt). Replacements: B van Straaten (34 mins); M Lund for Schofield (56 mins); B Stewart for Turner (67 mins); V Going for Mayor (75 mins).
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; J McWeeney, G D'Arcy, S Horgan, B Burke; C Warner, B O' Meara; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, P Coyle, B Gissing, M O'Kelly, E Miller, V Costello, K Gleeson. Replacements: A McCullen for Miller (half-time); D Dillon for Costello (45 mins).
Referee: S Dickson (Scotland).
