SA Youtuber claims two Sale Sharks tries illegal, provides ‘proof’
A South African Youtube account that became very popular over the British & Irish Lions tour has claimed two of Sale Sharks’ tries against Harlequins last night in the Gallagher Premiership were illegitimate.
I’m not sure we agree with both of the claims this video makes, but the forward pass claim looks to be accurate. The second one not so much.
First one does look forward, but the second try seem like he went to ground first and then had his first reach for the line after he had landed, as in it wasn’t a second attempt at reach for the line.
See what you think.
Sale Sharks have now won their last seven home games against Harlequins in the Premiership after losing their previous four on the bounce. The Sharks have won 17 home matches against Harlequins, a joint-high for them against a single opponent in the Premiership (also Bath Rugby).
Added to this, before last night, Sale Sharks have won each of their last two home matches against Harlequins by 30+ points, after never doing so in their previous 21 home fixtures against the Sharks in the league.
Not including last night’s match, Sale have made 136.8 tackles per game, the highest average of any team in the Premiership in 2021-22; they have made 7.0 dominant tackles per game, also the most in the league this season.
CREDIT: TAS Analytics
Watch the match highlights of Sale Sharks v Harlequins from the Gallagher Premiership here.
CREDIT: Premiership Rugby
Sale Sharks have failed to win their last three games (D1 L2) but haven’t endured a longer winless run in a single Premiership season since November 2016 – January 2017 when they lost six games in a row.
Harlequins have won their first three games in the Premiership in 2021/22 but haven’t won their first four games of a single season since 2012-13 when they were also the reigning league champions.
Harlequins have scored 5.7 tries per game, no other team has scored 4+ on average in the Premiership in 2021-22; Quins have scored at least four tries in each of their league matches this season.
Harlequins have run for an average of 7.7 metres per carry in the Premiership in 2021/22, the most of any team; they are one of just three teams to have carried the ball for an average of 700+ metres per game in the league this term (735).
Sale Sharks’ Jono Ross has made a total of 56 tackles in the Premiership in 2021/22, the most of any player; only Ollie Thorley (4) has made more dominant tackles than him this season (3).
Sam Dugdale (Sale Sharks) has had the most attacking ruck arrivals (92) and the joint-second most defensive ruck arrivals (34) of all players in the Premiership 2021/22.
Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt is the only player to have scored multiple tries and to have made multiple try assists in the Premiership this season – he has scored exactly two tries and has made two assists in the league in 2021-22.
