De Klerk misses chance to secure victory for Sale
PREMIERSHIP SATURDAY WRAP: Bath and Sale Sharks played to a 24-24 draw at The Recreation Ground in Round 21 of the Premiership on Saturday.
Sale would have won had South Africa's Faf de Klerk been on target with an 83rd-minute penalty. The World Cup winner's kick went narrowly wide.
However, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson refused to blame the scrumhalf for the defeat.
"You can go back to the kick, can't you, but it was all about the thousands of incidents that happened before that," he said.
Sam Underhill was in try-scoring form as he went over twice in the clash.
Sale were more dominant after the break with Jean-Luc du Preez, Rohan Van Rensburg and Evan Ashman putting Sale in front.
Danny Cipriani's penalty put Bath in front with three minutes left to play before De Klerk missed his penalty a few minutes later.
Meanwhile, Owen Farrell's return from four months out injured left Saracens supremo Mark McCall "delighted" after the regular England captain starred in a 27-23 Premiership win over Bristol on Saturday.
Flyhalf Farrell, who can also play at centre, missed all of England's lacklustre Six Nations campaign after undergoing ankle surgery.
But despite a lengthy spell on the sidelines, he kicked 12 points and was also a central figure in open play for north London side Saracens during a match played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
"He [Farrell] was at the heart of it, he place-kicked very well, he ran the attack brilliantly and I thought he defended well during the game," said McCall.
"I'm delighted with him and he'll just get better from here. His best games will be ahead of him, but he was pretty good today."
Saracens' third league win in a row also featured two tries from England wing Max Malins.
It left them second in the table, behind leaders Leicester, with the top four at the end of the regular season qualifying for the title-deciding play-offs.
Northampton boss Chris Boyd praised the impact of returning Test captains Courtney Lawes (England) and Dan Biggar (Wales) following the Six Nations after the duo starred in a 42-22 win over London Irish.
"Courtney didn't come in until Thursday, he had a couple of days with his family, but he came back in and you very seldom get a bad day out of Courtney," said Boyd following a match where the Saints scored 42 unanswered points.
"Dan Biggar was in on Tuesday and rolled his sleeves up and got straight back.
"They contributed much the same as a number of other people but coming back from international duty, they put in a pretty good shift."
Elsewhere, Jimmy Gopperth's late penalty secured a 27-24 win for Wasps over Newcastle, the veteran flyhalf's former club.
The scorers and scorers:
Bath 24-24 Sale
The scorers:
Bath:
Tries: Underhill 2, De Glanville
Cons: Cipriani 3
Pen: Cipriani
For Sale:
Tries: L. James, J-L Du Preez, Van Rensburg, Ashman
Cons: R. Du Preez, De Klerk
Saracens 27-23 Bristol Bears
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Malins 2, Daly
Cons: Farrell 3
Pens: Farrell 2
For Bristol:
Tries: Frisch, O'Conor, Eden
Con: Eden
Pens: Eden, Sheedy
London Irish 22-42 Northampton
The scorers:
For London Irish:
Tries: Hassell-Collins, Phipps 2
Cons: Jackson 2
Pens: Jackson
For Northampton:
Tries: Collins 2, Hutchinson, Penalty try, Mitchell, Dingwall
Cons: Biggar 5
Wasps 27-24 Newcastle
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Tries: Robson, Launchbury, West
Cons: Gopperth 3
Pens: Gopperth 2
For Newcastle:
Tries: McGuigan 3
Cons: Haydon-Wood 3
Pen: Haydon-Wood
Source: AFP & BBC