IT'S BACK - Harlequins vs Sale - Friday night

[Timbo]

Really not surprised in the stop-start nature of that game, poor continuity and basics. Was very much like the opening couple of rounds of the NZ super rugby competition.

Not a fan of the reffing. Like in NZ I suspect it’ll be more referees going back to doing what they used to do over players adapting to the new interpretations.

[fivepointer]

It was a poor game with frankly not much to commend it. 5 months without a game is bound to leave all the players and teams with a thick layer of rust. I thought Smith did very well. Quins pack fronted up. Both sides will get better.

[twitchy]

Yep agree with that. Worth noting the conditions though. It looked disgustingly humid.

Sale conceded so many pens it was almost comical. If they sort themselves out they could be very dangerous.

[Oakboy]

There was one moment in the first half when Dombrandt took a horrible pass when moving fast. I did not realise that he had such good hands.

[Scrumhead]

Yep agree with that. Worth noting the conditions though. It looked disgustingly humid.

Sale conceded so many pens it was almost comical. If they sort themselves out they could be very dangerous.

It was ... I live a few miles away and when it was raining it was humid AF.

I was reasonably happy. Landajo and Baldwin arguably had their best games so far in Quins shirts and while I don’t want to get carried away off the back of one game, it does look like Flannery has had an immediate impact on our set piece game.

I was also pretty happy with our discipline. We definitely seemed to adapt better to the new laws and I thought a couple of penalties were very harsh - one in particular where Ross was given a turnover for momentarily have one hand on the ball. If that’s a penalty, players like Willis are going to have an absolute field day.

[Beasties]

That was a ridiculous pen. That was Landajo playing well?

[BenHK]

Not sure it's a change in strategy? Sale have always had a strong academy. Necessarily so because until the last couple of years they haven't been able to afford star names

Fair enough, one has to then ask why they are now rammed with saffers; Timbo was saying there was now a lot more investment, which sounds like a change in strategy to me

In their current squad, they do have Neild, Harrison, Beaumont, Postlethwaite, Curry, Curry, Cliff, Warr, Wilkinson, James, James, and Reed who have come through the academy, which compares pretty favourably with anyone else in the Prem (as well as recently losing Haley and Addison to Celtic promises). They just also have a load of Saffers that came cheap.

Puja

As well as the two Celtic leavers, a number of other teams have also recently benefited from Sale's academy including Cameron Redpath (Bath), Sam Moore (Cardiff Blues), George Nott ((Irish) and in the not so distant past Tommy Taylor amongst a number of ex-Sale academy graduates at Wasps.

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