Glasgow .......................... 9, Sale ........................... 29,
A disappointing night for Glasgow ended with Kenny Logan being taken to hospital for precautionary X-rays after suffering a neck injury, and Gordon Bulloch's side going down bravely having had two tries chalked off by a woefully inadequate French referee.
The good news is that Logan is fine. The bad news is the referee. First he missed a try by George Breckenridge, and then disallowed a score from Glen Metcalfe, who appeared to touch the ball down awkwardly over the line.
``I was actually very pleased with the way the boys kept going at it in these conditions, up against a much heavier team,'' said Glasgow coach Kevin Greene after the game.
``Sale were very negative, and they won't win many games or friends playing like that. I was surprised at them.''
Sale, as Greene said, could kill rugby single handedly as a spectacle, and this in an age of professionalism, as they rolled their mauls, barged close to the break down, and hardly extended themselves. They were bigger, stronger, and better practised but my God they could enter a ``Most boring rugby team in Europe'' and only come second to the English national team itself.
The sound of their players shouting ``tighten it up'' a few times really was a joke. But it was another step up for Glasgow. ``We need more games like this,'' said Bulloch. ``The boys rise to this kind of game. This is only our second game together and it shows. They (Sale) have had three months together but we have only had a week.'' Yes it showed, but so too did the fact that Glasgow were far too nice all round in the face of bully-boy tactics, and they were unable to make any inroads through Sale's tackling, which was more than adequate.
In Glasgow's pack Brian Robertson, Bulloch again, David McLeish and John Shaw were towers of strength, while Steve Begley should have smashed his opposite number, David Baldwin, the first time his inside hand was grabbed at the lineout, but it went on all game.
Behind the scrum Jamie Weston probed intelligently, Alan Bulloch tried his heart out, and the back trio of Logan, Derek Stark and a much more convincing Metcalfe played well and were not disrupted too much when Breckenridge had to replace Logan.
Whether Glasgow could claim to be in a position to beat a side like Sale given similar practice time is arguable as there are few players in Scotland of the size of these Englishmen.
In all honesty, on last night's evidence there is quite a way to go, and Glasgow now have to step up a level yet again for games against two French teams.
From the kick off it was all Sale, steady in the scrums through massive props Alan Yates and Scotsman Paul Smith, rolling mauls using flanker Dave Erskine on the barge, taking clean line-out ball, but ignoring former Welsh winger Adrian Hadley on the left wing, and rugby league player Adam Griffin on the right.
Up front the power that was on display is illustrated by the fact that all of Sale's tries came from the one forward, John Fowler, while Glasgow's near things were from break-outs from speedy backs.
Altogether it was a convincing, but grumpy and unsatisfying way to play rugby when a largish crowd had turned out to watch the game despite atrocious conditions.
Two of Fowler's three tries for Sale came from rolling mauls which Glasgow were inept at coping with, the third from a very aggressive run to the line. Sale fully deserved their win, but this wasn't the way to win friends and influence people when the competition you are in is fighting for TV money, claiming at the same time to be the new shop window. Which it is.
Glasgow scorers - Breckenridge 3p. Sale scorers - Fowler 3t, Griffin 4p 1c.
Glasgow - Logan (Breckenridge), Stark, Bassi (Sangster), A Bulloch, Metcalfe, McLeod, Weston, Perrie, G Bulloch, B Robertson, M Norval, S Begley, F Wallace, D McLeish, J Shaw.
Sale - Mallinder, Griffin, Stocks, Yates, Hadley, Baxendale, O'Reilly, Smith, Newson, Yates, Fowler, Baldwin, Dobson, Boote, Erskine.
JOHN BEATTIE
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