Opposition view: 'Longest last three minutes of my life', says Sale boss Sanderson
Sale Sharks boss Alex Sanderson says the final three minutes of his side’s clash with Saints were the longest of his life.
The Sharks were pushed all the way by Saints, who charged into the home half with the clock in the red, threatening to produce an incredible comeback.
But full-back Joe Carpenter got over the ball to earn a penalty that put the seal on a 27-24 success for Sale.
And Sanderson said: “They were the longest last three minutes of my life.
"That’s why they’re the champions because they seemingly don’t tire, they don’t give up.
"They get a little bit of momentum and you feel like you’re chasing shadows.
"We saw that in the last 10 minutes of the first half and the lads came in at half-time a bit dejected even though we were five points up.
"I said ‘are you feeling a bit sorry for yourselves?’ and they were like ‘yeah, it’s really hard out there, really tough’. I told them that was always going to be the case, it was always going to be the game.
"It was going to take a lot of effort and to get into a dark place to win the game, and loving it there.
"We had to go to that dark place again in the last five minutes.”
Sale had moved into a 12-point lead early in the match as Saints were reduced to 13 men by yellow cards for Tom James and Tommy Freeman.
But Phil Dowson’s men kept fighting and they eventually bagged a try bonus point as well as a losing bonus point.
Sale had to do plenty of defending, particularly during the second period.
“You have to slow the ball up when you’re playing these boys because they’re just too dangerous off quick ball,” Sanderson said.
"They can really punish you but I was really impressed with how we handled the pressure against a good quality team who needed to win to give themselves a fighting chance in the Prem.”