A youthful Sharks line-up were edged out by Montpellier Herault in the opening game of the 16th Challenge Armand Vaquerin Tournament (in Millau). Charlie Hodgson’s touchdown being cancelled out by four Montpellier penalties.
“(It was a) Good team effort from a fairly young team. Our defence & attitude were outstanding and we didn’t concede a try.”
Kingsley Jones, gave debuts to David Bishop and Jack Forster, and went on to make three half-time replacements: James Gaskell for Sean Cox, Ryan Glynn for Will Cliff and David Seymour for David Tait, as he carried out his intention to give all the players some game time during the five pre-season fixtures. The aim? To hit the ground running in the opening Guinness Premiership encounter against champions Leicester Tigers at Edgeley Park on Friday, 4th September (7.45 p.m.).
Injuries to Oriol Ripol and David Seymour put a damper on an otherwise encouraging performance.
Sharks Director of Rugby Kingsley Jones was upbeat about the outing, saying: “(It was a) Good team effort from a fairly young team. Our defence & attitude were outstanding and we didn’t concede a try. I was delighted with the set piece and the commitment of all the players . On the down side the penalty count was a problem and we missed a few kicks at goal. No major injury worries and I am sure the young players will take a lot of confidence from this game.”
Sharks starting fifteen:
Nick Macleod; Selorm Kuadey, David Bishop, Lee Thomas, Oriol Ripol; Charlie Hodgson, Will Cliff; Rob O’Donnell, Marc Jones, Jack Forster, Dean Schofield (capt), Sean Cox, David Tait, James Jones, Carl Fearns.
Replacements bench: Ben Roberts, Gavin Kerr, Martin Halsall, James Gaskell, Brent Cockbain, Luke Abraham, David Seymour, Alex Shaw, Ryan Glynn, Chris Bell, Jonny Kennedy, Jordan Davies.
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