Sale Sharks 16 Perpignan 31

ANOTHER under-achieving day at the office for the Sale Sharks saw them record their fifth successive defeat, and more importantly, start their European Shield campaign on totally the wrong foot.

Three penalties and a conversion meant that Nicky Little had a better day than he did against Bristol a week earlier, but he was the only one.

Director of rugby Adrian Hadley had this to say, "It was a poor performance. There were too many missed tackles, too many turnovers and too many dropped balls."

"We were without ten player and our problms were compunded when Paul Knight broke his hand and Andy Morris was sent off."

A well-drilled Perpignan side came to cause trouble, and in this they succeeded.

A fully fit Sale side may have made better sport of them, but in the end, the Sharks conspired to beat themselves.

Discussing his options, Hadley admitted that the future was bleak. "We have no options at this time. There is no money to strengthen the squad, we have been hit by a terrible spate of injuries and I am not sure it hurts all the players as much as it should when we lose."

A late try by replacement Pete Anglesea, added to Little's kicks, was not enough to over come the strong French bombardment.

Touchdowns from Peillard, Pradal, and Tilloles, two of which were converted by Cambarero, provided the backbone of the French victory, and three penalties was the icing on the cake.

With the news that Pau defeated Welsh side Caerphilly 33-21, it seems that the French are putting up the strongest resistance in pool 3, whilst the Sharks have a mountain to climb if they are to progress beyond the group stage.

As a footnote to the match, both Sale's Andy Morris and Perpignan's Patrick Furet are to serve 15 day bans, after a bust-up resulted in red cards for the pair of them.

Sale are considering an appeal against flanker Morris's suspension, as he claims he was gouged in the eye prior to the incident which saw the players sent off.

The match descended into violence when a French player jumped on Morris after he spotted the Sharks man thumping his fist on a restraining arm.

The Italian referee had no choice but to send players off in an attempt to regain control of the match.

Afer the game, Morris said, "Gouging isn't on and I was not the only player to suffer from it."

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