Leeds lift confidence in defeat as they head to last-chance saloon

A performance full of heart and desire, with a fair amount of offensive guile thrown in, was meriting of more than the losing bonus point they earned at the death through Michael Stephenson’s try.

Indiscipline cost them. Give Charlie Hodgson five kicks at goal and he is going to do some damage. And he did.

The Halifax-born former England fly-half may be a proud Yorkshireman at heart, but personal gains come first.

Sale needed the points nearly as badly as Leeds, and Hodgson kicked them to that crucial 15-12 victory.

The Sharks may appear safe now but with their talisman Hodgson bound for Saracens in the summer, they will struggle again next season as players of the ilk of the Premiership’s all-time leading points scorer do not grow on trees, as Leeds have found.

A cumulative total of 11 points went begging from kicks at goal by Hodgson’s opposite number Adrian Jarvis.

And although head coach Neil Back absolved his fly-half of blame, it was a galling defeat to take for Leeds.

So often this season, they have been second best and deserving of defeat.

At Edgeley Park, the feeling was of one that got away.

What was heartening was that there was some semblence of a Premiership team in the white shirts of Carnegie.

Their forwards were outstanding, breaking the gain line at will on a relentless mission up the middle of the park.

Steve Thompson, Daniel Browne and Alfie To’oala were particularly merciless, and even England’s Hendre Fourie had to raise his game to compete with his fellow forwards.

The two tries they scored were slick moves, particulalry the first that resulted in a score for Henry Fa’afili.

Get their kicking game right, and repeat that fearless forward performance then Leeds might just defy the odds for a second season running.

They are running out of games though, and Exeter at home next Sunday followed by Newcastle away the following week – in a game that needs little billing – represent their last chances.

So can Leeds still do it?

“Absolutely,” was Back’s confident, bullish response in the aftermatch of their 15th defeat of the campaign on Friday.

“It’s not over it until it’s mathematically impossible but it will make our life a lot easier if we can win next week (against Exeter).

“Looking at our rivals (Newcastle), are they going to get many points over the next few games? We’ll see next week, but we have just got to concentrate on ourselves.

“Exeter are an excellent side but I believe if we win that we’ll go into a game at Newcastle that could decide the destiny of both clubs.

“It is possible to stay up. I believe we will do and the players believe that. They want to play in the Premiership.

“If we keep playing with that heart and soul, and quality at times, then we’ll get the wins we need. That’s what we’ve got to try and do.”

Back was fulsome in his praise of the character his players showed, and if he was a little disappointed in their decision making, which handed Hodgson his five penalty attempts, he was also irked at referee Wayne Barnes’s officiating of the breakdown.

He continued: “England suffered in the Six Nations at the hands of the breakdown, it is an issue, players coming in from everywhere and stepping in over the top. You deal with it.

“It’s a continual problem in all rugby, and it was an issue again.

“It was a very frustrating defeat and I feel for the guys.

“You cannot question their effort desire or desperation.

“I think we played the majority of the rugby and scored two tries off the back of that.

“When you come to Sale with the half-backs they’ve got and give them chance to play, they can control field position.

“We prevented them doing that, but with Charlie being a world-class goal-kicker, you give him a chance in your half and he’s going to stick the ball between the poles and that’s what he did.

“You’ve got to take your hat off to Leeds; we played a lot of rugby, created a lot of chances. We could have made better decisions at times, but that’s rugby.

“I’m pleased we took the bonus point.

“At the end of the game you look for eye contact from your players and I had 100 per cent eye contact looking round that circle.

“They were disappointed, they threw their hat in the ring, they gave it everything, and that’s all we can ask.”

And he was also encouraged by the character of Jarvis, the mid-season signing from Bristol, whom the head coach believes has enromous resolve.

Back said: “Adrian hit the poles, if they go over we’d be walking away with four points instead of one.

“It didn’t happen and I have no issues with him. The good thing about Jarvo is when a penalty is given he’ll say with confidence whether he wants the shot or not, and that’s what you want from a player.

“He backed himself, it’s just unfortunate he hit the post.

“We’ve probably got to look into our kick-chase and make sure it’s us who are catching the ball.”

Back also confirmed that Marco Wentzel missed the game due to a calf strain having not healed in time.

Thompson also played 50 minutes despite a foot injury, but both are expected to be fit for the visit of Exeter.