SALE director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre had nothing but praise for Charlie Hodgson after the inspirational fly-half battled through the pain barrier to guide his side through to the Guinness Premiership final at Twickenham.

The England pivot suffered bruised ribs following a hefty tackle by Simon Shaw midway through the first half of the Sharks' 22-12 victory over Wasps, but trudged on to score 17 match-winning points against the reigning champions at Edgeley Park.

Hodgson did not miss a kick all afternoon - he booted five penalties and converted Jason Robinson's dazzling 31st-minute try - while he also showed maturity by squeezing the life out of the Londoners in the final 20 minutes with some measured touch-finding and tactical nous.

Saint-Andre said: "After that (his injury), he could not tackle so we put him on the wing.

"We had a fly-half in Valentin Courrent on the bench but he has had a shoulder injury all week.

"But Charlie did not want to come off the pitch anyway. He wanted to stay on and that demonstrated the attitude of the team at the moment.

"He has a big bruise on his ribs but I think he will be fit for the (May 27) final."

Hodgson was not Sale's only hero.

In Robinson, they had the game's most incisive runner and it was his sensational 50-yard try which proved to be the match's defining moment.

Flanker and lynchpin Jason White - the Premiership's player of the season - also had a huge game as the Sharks weathered a difficult opening hour before controlling the final 20 minutes in the forwards as if they were play-off veterans.

"Robinson was born to be a champion," the Frenchman added. "He has something you can't buy, you can't teach. He has a gift.

"And you can understand why Jason White was voted player of the year. When Whitey hits somebody, they are injured for a few days. Some of his tackles were unbelievable."

Saint-Andre, who has never won a game at Twickenham as either player or coach, added: "We must savour this moment and take this mentality into the game in two weeks. We are not champions yet."

Wasps director of rugby Ian McGeechan refused to concede it was the end of an era for his side.

The Londoners, Premiership champions for the last three seasons, will emerge from the season as Powergen Cup champions but they have failed to find the spark that made them the stand-out team in England over the past few years.

McGeechan, however, put on a brave face, saying: "We have just become the challengers now.

"We have been beaten at the death here but we'll be working towards being just as big a force next year."

Wasps, whose points came through the boot of Mark Van Gisbergen, will be left ruing the hamstring strain picked up by Tom Voyce with the Sale try-line beckoning in the 17th minute.

The winger pulled up with only covering tackler Hodgson to beat and ended up throwing possession away before being replaced by Fraser Waters.

A minute later, the Sharks went down the other end of the field and Hodgson kicked a penalty to make the score 9-3 - a passage of play which left McGeechan in doleful mood.

"It was a seven-point injury wasn't it?" he said.

"Seven points disappeared and as the game evolved, that was always going to be crucial."

The Scot added: "All credit to Sale, they held on to the ball when they had it and we didn't do as much as we should have when we had it. But they were holding on at the end." Tweet