Blood sport returned to Edgeley Park as Sale Sharks wrote their way into the record books by devouring their hapless Spanish opponents.

Though a 15-try savaging of El Salvador was hardly an accurate barometer of Sale’s league prospects, it was the perfect way to kick-start their Amlin Cup campaign as well as bolstering confidence which was so badly dented by last week’s shattering defeat to Wasps.

And it will also go down in history as the Sharks’ biggest win, surpassing the 93-0 victory over Roma in 2001.

The fact Mike Brewer’s men had already racked up a bonus point win inside 20 minutes spoke volumes as to the ocean-wide gulf in class as their game but limited opponents were ruthlessly ripped to shreds.

Before anyone starts getting carried away, it’s worth remembering El Salvador were tanked 84-6 and 63-0 by Brive and Newcastle respectively last year so they have previous.

But with 11 different players getting their names on the try list, led by hat-trick star Tom Brady, and a party atmosphere in the crowd long before the final whistle, no-one was complaining in Stockport, not least Sale’s Kiwi head coach.

"It was good to watch and a bit like scoring a 59 in golf. You just want to go out there and play it again, though we only achieved 70 or 80 percent of what we set out to achieve,” said the former All Black.

“I find those sorts of games difficult as I was on the same position as a coach playing against Stade Francais a few years ago. El Salvador are the Spanish champions and I just hope they don’t go away having lost all confidence in themselves as rugby players.

“It was great that we kept that scoreboard ticking over and there were a lot of pleasing facets in the way we managed the game along with many good individual performances.

“Points difference could be important as we want to try and qualify as the first ranked team and not face a Heineken Cup loser in the quarter-finals, though that is a fair way away yet.”

Irony of ironies, the first blood actually went to the Spaniards inside five minutes after an intercepted Charlie Hodgson pass allowed Jaike Carter the chance to touch down and start the night on a surreal note, especially when members of the El Salvador side started taking pictures of the scoreboard!

Panzer

But that was pretty much where the visitors’ highlights package began and ended.

Indeed, the hard-pressed scoreboard operator at Edgeley Park has never known anything like it with six tries raining down in the first half and nine more after the break in what amounted to little more than a training run for Brewer’s side.

Sisa Koyamaibole’s 10th- minute try began the Sale ‘fightback’ and as the Sharks’ panzer pack began to gather steam, the points started to rain down.

Koyamaibole’s 12th-minute break created the platform for Nick Macleod to touch down before Andy Tuilagi charged his way through the Spaniard’s brittle backline to score try number three.

Brady then ensured the bonus point win inside the first quarter of the game before the hugely impressive Ben Cohen carved his way through to give Chris Bell the time and space to score his first try of the season.

And by the time debutant Fergus Mulchrone (a replacement for Tuilagi) got in on the act on 32 minutes it was apparent a rout was on the cards.

But if El Salvador thought Sale would take pity on them, they reckoned without hard taskmaster Brewer who, having challenged his players to up their game again after the break, saw his men chalk up 61 unanswered points.

Macleod who also kicked eight conversions, claimed his second try a minute after the re-start and he was followed over the whitewash on 50 minutes by another debutant, Chris Brightwell who enjoyed a fine first start.

Mulchrone and Brady then linked up to send in Cohen before the World Cup winner turned provider himself for another former England star, Chris Jones, who was making his first start of the season.

Brady quickly claimed his second of the night as did Mulchrone, their scores being sandwiched by a first try in Sale colours for replacement fly-half Rob Miller on 65 minutes.

The only question now was whether the Sharks would hit the magic 100 mark and when Brady sprinted in for his hat-trick, the ton looked odds-on.
Instead, they fell three points short, though not before Chris Leck darted over to write the class of 2010 into the Edgeley Park record books.

SALE: MacLeod; Brady; Bell; Tuilagi (Mulchrone 27); Cohen; Hodgson (Miller 40 mins); Cliff (Leck 61); Imiolek; M. Jones (capt); Forster (McIntyre 61); C. Jones (Briggs 65); Lewaravu; Brightwell; McMillan; Koyamaibole (Cox 40)
CETRANSA: Davey; Lamela (Galban 40); Carter; Revilla; Gascon; Mai; Feijoo; Martinez (Murre 76); Moral (Morran 55); Castro; Sanchez (C. Souto 48); S. Souto; Molina; Llorente; Criado
Att: 4,666

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