Despite at one stage being reduced to 14 men when new recruit Luke Abraham picked up a yellow card, Sale prevented Newcastle Falcons registering a try on a testing afternoon at Kingston Park.
Understandably, all the talk in the immediate aftermath of the Sharks' 14-9 triumph was how, at the 17th time of asking, they had finally exorcised their North Eastern demons.
But of equal importance to director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre was the way his new-look side refused to buckle under sustained pressure.
"I thought that we looked like a team and we were well organized in defence and when we did have the ball we looked dangerous," said Saint-Andre.
"What I was also pleased about was when it was 14 against 15, we didn't panic and our scrum stayed very strong - especially when you consider we had both Sebastien Bruno and Andrew Sheridan missing."
The Edgeley Park chief also had warm words for the quartet of summer signings making their Guinness Premiership debuts for the club.
"It was good for Mathew Tait to come back here which wasn't easy for his first game for us and he nearly marked his debut by scoring a try in the corner," Saint-Andre added.
"I think what our new guys did well were the basics. Any time you make a mistake at Newcastle you will be punished and we didn't give them any opportunities."
French hooker Bruno, England prop Sheridan and Scotland star Rory Lamont should all be fit for Friday night's showdown with Saracens at Edgeley Park.
"Confidence wise, I think Sunday's win will be very important for the team," said Saint-Andre.
"Winning away at Newcastle was a big thing for us but now we are solely focused on the Saracens match."
Tweet
