{"id":300453,"date":"2023-12-16T23:26:38","date_gmt":"2023-12-16T23:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?p=300453"},"modified":"2023-12-16T23:26:38","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T23:26:38","slug":"leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/rugby-union\/leinster-37-27-sale-leo-cullens-side-recover-from-sluggish-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Leinster 37-27 Sale: Leo Cullen's side recover from sluggish start"},"content":{"rendered":"
A power-packed second half saved Leinster\u2019s blushes on Saturday night, as they shook off the gutsy challenge of Sale.<\/p>\n
The visitors made 12 changes from the side that hammered Stade Francais in their opening Champions Cup game last weekend, and the expectation was that a full-strength Leinster would make short work of Alex Sanderson\u2019s team.<\/p>\n
But it was Leo Cullen who was surely the more worried coach at the interval as Sale took advantage of Leinster sluggishness to lead by two.<\/p>\n
It left the sold-out attendance of 18,600 at the RDS struggling to get into the festive spirit, but Leinster eventually came right to run out comfortable winners.<\/p>\n
While the final score leaves Leinster looking likely to secure a home tie in the last 16, there was enough rust in their display to leave Cullen and senior coach Jacques Nienaber with plenty to work on over Christmas.<\/p>\n
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Jamison Gibson-Park scores a try for Leinster during their victory against Sale Sharks<\/p>\n
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Leinster head coach Leo Cullen will be aware that there is a lot for his team to work on<\/p>\n
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Tom Curtis (right) scored a try for Sale but his side ended up being beaten by Leinster<\/p>\n
Sale had charged into a 13-3 lead helped by a Connor Doherty try, and after Leinster laid siege to the Sale line and came up short, it took a Josh van der Flier score just before half-time to peg the visitors\u2019 lead back to two at the interval.<\/p>\n
The second half was a very different story as tries from Jamison Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw, Cian Healy and Ryan Baird saw the Sale challenge off but late tries from Tommy Taylor and Tom Curtis were due reward for their efforts.<\/p>\n