THE glare of the spotlight on Charlie Hodgson was not as fierce last night as it had been at Twickenham on Sunday, but he had psychological hurdles to cross nonetheless. He negotiated them with aplomb, kicking four goals from five attempts and adding a canny dropped goal. If there were any demons in his mind after he missed three penalties and a dropped goal for England against France last weekend, he went some way towards exorcising them.
There were even a couple of side-stepping breaks in broken play, just to underline that, in case anyone had forgotten, he is actually a very good rugby player who had a bad day on Sunday.
In a disjointed game, his efforts helped Sale to consolidate second place, while Leeds, despite a period of late pressure, failed to grab the bonus point that would have helped their scrap against relegation.
“I was very pleased for Charlie, he’s had a very, very tough week,” Philippe Saint-Andre, the Sale director of rugby, said. “He showed that he is a world-class kicker, he showed a lot of character and that he’s very strong in his mind.”
The only drawback for Sale was a knee injury to Jason White that may threaten his Scotland place next weekend.
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Hodgson could not have asked for a more straightforward opportunity to settle his nerves as Leeds were caught offside in front of their posts and, from 22 metres, Hodgson duly put his side into the lead. Seldom has such a simple goal been greeted so warmly.
Three minutes later came a more significant strike. When Leeds transgressed at a ruck, Sale were awarded a penalty 25 metres out, four metres in from the right touchline, the trickier side for a right-footed kicker. The posts could not have been bisected more perfectly.
Gordon Ross brought Leeds back to within three points with a penalty of his own from 20 metres, but from Hodgson’s restart, the ball was allowed to bounce and the Sharks retrieved possession. The ball was quickly recycled and Hodgson coolly slotted over a dropped goal from 15 metres. After his missed dropped goal against Wales, this was another ghost seemingly laid to rest.
After the break, Sale gained some breathing space when, from 30 metres out, Andrew Sheridan burst through three tackles and found himself with a clear run to the line. Hodgson converted and kicked another penalty before his solitary miss, an excusable one. Phil Christophers scored a consolation try for Leeds, but this was Hodgson’s evening.
SCORERS: Sale Sharks: Try: Sheridan (52min). Conversion: Hodgson. Penalty goals: Hodgson 3 (9, 12, 59). Dropped goal: Hodgson (29). Leeds Tykes: Try: Christophers (73). Conversion: Ross. Penalty goal: Ross (28).
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SCORING SEQUENCE (Sale first): 3-0, 6-0, 6-3, 9-3 (half-time), 16-3, 19-3, 19-10.
SALE SHARKS: J Robinson; M Cueto, J Baxendell, R Todd (rep: C Rhys-Jones, 29), S Hanley; C Hodgson, B Redpath (rep: S Martens, 63); A Sheridan (rep: B Stewart, 79), A Titterrell (rep: S Bruno, 51; sin-bin, 71-80+3), B Stewart (rep: S Turner, 66), C Jones (rep: C Day, 74), D Schofield, J White (rep: J Carter, 41), M Lund (rep: Titterrell, 76-80+3), S Chabal.
LEEDS TYKES: I Balshaw; A Snyman, P Christophers, C Bell, T Stimpson (rep: D Rees, 67); G Ross, A Dickens; G Kerr, R Rawlinson (rep: M Regan, 54), R Gerber, S Morgan, T Palmer, J Dunbar (rep: C Murphy, 54), R Parks, C Rigney (rep: A Popham, 54).
Referee: S Lander.