Sale Sharks bagged a hard-fought away victory in the European Challenge Cup on Saturday night, their first win of the season out of their AJ Bell fortress.
The Sharks took the victory with a penalty try in the 76th minute and now sit second behind Newport Gwent Dragons in Pool B with nine points from three games.
Centre Mark Jennings was delighted with the result, which also saw Nev Edwards bag his first try in the European competition.
“I’m absolutely buzzing. You don’t win away in France that much.
“It was one massive collective effort for the boys against a physical French team.
“We gritted it out and came through – we outmuscled them, we ran hard with everything we did and it was good to get the win.”
Jennings added that he believes the victory will be the impetus for more positive results for the Sharks.
“Everything seems to be falling into place now, and we can take this momentum heading into the next part of the season.
“Tonight just shows how much we’ve progressed as a team over the last few years.”
Sale will face Castres once again on Saturday, as the French side pay a return visit to the AJ Bell stadium.
“We can’t be complacent heading into next week’s game against Castres, they’ll want to get revenge,” added Jennings.
“I think we need to work on the stuff we did well in this game, and take that into the game at the AJ Bell.”
Steve Diamond was also happy with the result, praising players who came off the bench.
“It was a really good performance,” he said.
“Our defence was fantastic, the set piece was good and the drive was back on form: we didn’t bottle it and we were under a lot of pressure.
“There were certain players who didn’t perform last week at Gloucester, who really proved a point tonight.
“It was a really great win in this competition for us, it opens the competition up for us now, with two home games to go, plus an away game to Pau.
“We’re ready for the fight at home, the side are a different kettle of fish there.
“It will be difficult to drop anybody, but we’ll see what we’ve got available and prepare for that.”
Image courtesy of Sale Sharks via YouTube, with thanks.
