Despite my resentment at the price of the stadium conveniences however, the game more than made up for it by the end. Hewat's boot managed to keep Sale back in their own half after kicking to touch near the posts a number of times, but it wasn't until the 17th minute that Irish launched the opening salvo with a penalty through the posts, thanks to David Doherty holding on. Sale immediately attempted a fightback, but a lack of discipline at the breakdown meant that their efforts were halting at best. Their reward came from some smart rugby from Dwayne Peel, who after taking a quick tap brought the Sharks into our own territory. Several phases ensued before Irish were penalised at the scrum, and the kick was converted to bring the two sides level.

The fact of the matter is, without meaning to be too hard on the Sharks, we were all over them in the first half. They never really managed to look completely threatening, and the main flashes of skill and inventiveness came from the Exiles. This was proven by Hewat as Irish drove back to the Sale 22, when he booted a sweet little drop goal through the posts in a manner very reminiscent of our own Mike Catt, putting us ahead of the visitors once more.

Chris Bell received a yellow card for infringing, and with the Sharks a man lighter, Irish took advantage with Thorpe barrelling over the line to end their Premiership record. Sale came back to score another penalty against the Irish, but it was only enough to make the score 11 - 6 at the half time whistle.

Irish have developed a bit of a reputation for being giant killers this season, with our win over Wasps and Harlequins, and it was never more evident that we meant business in the second half. The lads took apart the visitors with the degree of competency that we've been looking for following our exploits in Europe, and ensuring that Sale's reign at the head of the table was well and truly over for now.

Hewat's strategy of herding the Sharks into their own half with kicks to the corner worked brilliantly once more, keeping them on the back foot from the off. A combination of Corbisiero's power and speed allowed the kicker to cross the line, before the prop followed up with a try of his own in the 61st minute. It wasn't long before he made it over once more thanks to Mapusua and Armitage, with Hewat converting.

I've got a note on my pad about Ojo being pushed onto the tarmac at around this point, but unfortunately the beers had just come back and I was momentarily distracted when it happened, only hearing a few boos and being roughly filled in by the lady next to me.

Irish claimed the resounding victory with a bonus point in the last minutes of the match, with Tagicakibau bulldozing his way through the Sale defence and planting it firmly over the line.

The fairly vocal Sharks fans unfortunately came away with a heavy loss, but the Irish can celebrate, knowing that even with the transition of Catty to coach and Smith away from the loving arms of the Madejski, we can still turn out rugby that can complete in the very top flight. A well deserved win, with promising signs for the future, particularly with Geraghty's start on the weekend against the Warriors.

There are still a few problems with our game though. Hewat's kicking, as much as it contributed to this game, needs to improve dramatically. We're leaking potential points through his missing penalties and conversions, and I'm sure that he wasn't this uneven last season. Likewise, although we seem to be getting the measure of the ELVs, we're still giving away penalties in dangerous areas, although our overexcitement at scoring from the previous year seems to be tempered with a calmer maturity this time around.

The bench for Irish included Rautenbach, Paice, Richards, Hickey, Danaher, Murphy and Johnson.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

• Think you know your sport? Click here to try the Sportnetwork Prize Quizzes

Williams F1 Poll