It was Nathan Jibulu whose highlights were playing in the closing credits of this rare edition of Thursday Night Lights.
Midweek rugby is not a regular fixture in the PREM rugby calendar but there is a strong case that it should be here to stay.
On an evening where the main sporting competition comes from the Europa League, rugby’s power brokers should make this a regular feature on TV sets around the country.
A crowd of 6,600 turned out for the season opener. Their weekend started early as Oasis pumped through the sound system at the Corpacq. It was below the average crowd of 8,500 but old habits die hard. And few of those who turned out left with any complaints.
This was not a classic but Sale’s supporters left with a feeling of relief after Jibulu scored on debut. The hosts fluffed scoring opportunities but the young hooker finally gave his side the lead going into the final quarter, whilst delivering a dominant scrummaging debut.
It will take a few days to recover from the thumping tackles of Rekeiti Ma’asi-White in the midfield and player welfare is the biggest hurdle for midweek rugby. Player turnaround time is the biggest challenge but rugby league has found ways to make it work with creative scheduling.
Nathan Jibulu of Sale Sharks is tackled by Seb Atkinson of Gloucester
Joe Carpenter of Sale Sharks runs with the ball to go on and scores his team’s third try
At a time when English clubs are under threat from the R365 rebel league, it is time for open-minded thinking. With plans to expand the league to 12 teams, there could soon be one additional fixture for the broadcasters to accommodate. English rugby fans have nothing to get their teeth into for the majority of the week and the additional slot would only boost visibility.
‘I love it, what’s not to love, we’ve got the whole weekend to drink malbec!’ said Sale coach Alex Sanderson, when asked about midweek rugby. ‘If you lose it’s a long weekend. We’re going into town tomorrow to a sauna, it’s the biggest in Europe so we’ll go in there to get the review done. It’s the truth chamber. Then they’ve got the weekend to relax.
‘Commercially, is it feasible, can we get enough people through the gates? It looked pretty busy tonight. The only issue is the turnaround time if you play from a Saturday to a Thursday it makes it difficult but whatever brings people through the gates to watch some decent rugby.’
Hosting midweek fixtures means clubs could miss out on valuable weekend revenues, so no CEOs were rushing to stage this one-off fixture. It was scheduled to avoid a clash with the women’s World Cup final. Sale’s co-owner Michelle Orange one of the most vocal about leaving the weekend free for the women’s game so she agreed to take on the slot. They will receive no additional broadcast money for taking on the fixture but when the rights are next negotiated then midweek table should be on the table.
Sale targeted Gloucester at the set piece from the start, with the visitors fielding their fourth-choice loosehead in Harrison Bellamy.
The first try of the season came after 17 minutes. Sale’s pack crabbed inside from a driving maul, before switching play back towards the touchline for Tom Roebuck to score.
Ross Byrne kicked Gloucester’s first points from their tee, before Jack Clement’s try snatched the lead on the stroke of half-time as the visitors finally achieved clean ball from their lineout.
Jibulu scored when Jack Clement was in the sin-bin and George Ford took control in the final quarter, with tries from Joe Carpenter and Hyron Andrews secutr bonus-point win.
Jibulu scored when Jack Clement was in the sin-bin and George Ford took control in the final quarter, with tries from Joe Carpenter and Hyron Andrews secu bonus-point win.
