All Black and Blue too!

Some see him as the smiling assassin - a man capable of ruffling everybody's feathers and single-handedly changing the course of a game with one rash and impulsive decision.

Others would rather view him as an entertaining and amusing, motor-mouthed maverick, whose officiating, whilst generally satisfactory, can be a tad over-fussy.

Personally I tend to nail my colours to the latter mast, though that wasn't how I felt in the "Crummie" Stand last year after he awarded the penalty try to Leicester. The love-fest was definitely teetering on the thinnest of ice at that point.

The thing is, whatever your view of him, you can put money on the fact that he will do something during the course of every game that will either make your blood boil, or will leave you scratching your head thinking, what the hell's he done that for?

The harsh yellowing-carding of Andrew Sheridan could well have cost Sale a deserved victory against Worcester on Friday.

I know home support can have an effect on even the most knarled and match-hardened referee, but even I was astonished at the sin-binning. How can anyone pull out of a legitimate tackle attempt when already in mid-flight?

The simple answer is you can't, especially if you're a 19 stone forward.

A penalty it may have been, but a carding offence? You jest, Sir.

Fortunately for the travelling fans who braved the clear skies and arctic temperatures, the script was already written. Mr McAlister's Sharks fairytale debut was always destined to begin victoriously.

We've had a tendency this season to come out of the starting blocks slowly and tentatively, you only have to think about Bath, Gloucester and Cardiff to see that.

With such a dreadful record on the road, Sale desperately needed to hit the ground running and put the skids under the Warriors' fragile confidence. They did, and Lee Thomas and Luke McAlister immediately showed the shivering Sale contingent that happy days could be just around the corner.

Richard Wigglesworth broke from deep in his own 22 and fed the ball to Thomas who passed to McAlister. He powered up the field showing the class that has made him such an All Black favourite.

Lesser players might've gone to ground, but not Big Mac - he took the hit, stood up in the tackle and still managed to offload to the marauding Thomas who steamrollered towards the Worcester 22, shrugging off a tackle from Sanderson and handing off Tucker, before shifting the ball out to Rory Lamont.

The Scottish winger scampered away from the despairing lunges of Drahm and Powell to dot the ball down for the first try with barely four minutes on the clock. Charlie nailed the conversion as one would expect.

The Warriors then did what the Warriors tend to do best and retained the ball, working through the phases, probing and looking for the openings to exploit, but rarely threatening for want of a cutting edge.

Sale have been able to deal with this type of ploy all season. Their defence has held up well particularly when pressed back on their own five-metre line. The only time they've ever appeared to be vulnerable is when confronting runners who come from deep at pace.

Dale Rasmussen and Mark Tucker, who can offer this type of threat were both subdued and offered little in the way of a direct threat in the opening stages.

The best that the petulant Tucker could offer was a little bit of handbags with Mark Cueto after being pinged for holding on and conceding the penalty. Charlie Hodgson cleared long to touch and the ever-reliable Sean Cox took clean, athletic ball from the resulting lineout.

Wiggy (Richard Wigglesworth) once more went for the half break off the back of the maul but was snagged by Pat Sanderson.

Pat immediately went off his feet, killing the ball, and was penalised by Spredders. Charlie put the penalty away without hesitation.

The Sharks were dominant at this point, mixing up play and interchanging positions. Big Mac (McAlister), Charlie and Thomas swapped and changed positions constantly and caused confusion in the Worcester ranks. Not to be outdone, Cueto and Lamont doubled up on the right wing much to Marcel Garvey's dismay.

The tactic worked accordingly and Worcester's midfield was pulled out of position, leaving space for another half break, this time by Ben Foden. He fed the ball to the rampaging Sebastien Chabal, playing in the uncustomary role of blindside, even though packing down at 8.

Seabass isn't just a power machine, he has good hands too and proved this with a deft little offload out of the tackle to Thomas.

Bomber charged 20 metres up the park brushing off both Sanderson and Phil Murphy before going to ground and presenting the ball for Wiggy. The ball was fed to Charlie and you could see what was about to happen.

Cueto began his run, keeping tight on his wing, knowing instinctively that Charlie would spot him. The kick was inch perfect and Cueto didn't even have to break his stride as he slid over in the corner inspite of the attentions of Thinus Delport.

Although Hodgson's conversion kick was accurate, it could only manage to brush the outside of the posts. Maybe they were shivering in sympathy with the rest of the crowd in the bitter temperatures. I bet Luke McAlister never had it that cold in Auckland.

With only 18 minutes played and at 15-0 to the good, Sale did what Sale are good at - they took their eye off the ball.

They continued to try and use their obvious advantages whenever they could, but forgot that to do that you have to win the ball first. We finished up second best at the rucks and allowed Worcester to take the initiative back.

The Warriors played a much narrower game and set out to frustrate and spoil, turning over and stealing ball whenever they could and getting the likes of Sanderson and Netani Talei to target Hodgson's 10 channel. The tactics worked and for the last 15 minutes of the first half the Sharks were on the back foot.

Worcester though couldn't turn territorial advantage into points against the resolute and dogged Sharks defence. Their game-plan was very conservative and one-dimensional, relying heavily on the use of the driving maul.

Even when they were given penalties, Shane Drahm still opted to kick to the corners hoping to win lineout ball with the help of their giant 8ft 10ins lock Craig Gillies.

Had they been prepared to be a little more adventurous they could well have made Sale pay. A charge from Talei showed what they could be capable of if they put their minds to it.

Fortunately he was stopped in his tracks by McAlister with a last ditch tackle that prevented what looked like a nailed-on try. Because of this lack of ambition, all that Worcester could muster by halftime was three points, courtesy of a Drahm penalty.

The Warriors started the second half in much the same way as they'd ended the first - harrying and pressurising at every opportunity. Matt Powell was a real nuisance at the set piece, sniping and harassing Wiggy and stealing ball on a couple of occasions.

New All Black Greg Rawlinson also put himself about and caused one or two problems that needn't have occurred.

The Sharks continued with pretty much the same game plan and consequently turned over too much ball. You can't rely on just the one body to clear our rucks.

Worcester had the right idea and got numbers in, forcing Sale to back-pedal for much of the first 10 minutes. You can have the finest set of backs in the world, but if you don't have the ball there's not much they can do, is there?

What was plain for all to see is that you will always struggle at this level if you can't call on a specialised openside to forage and cover.

We definitely missed Magnus Lund and Corcho (Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe). Worcester had Sanderson and it made all the difference.

The only spark of light in the opening period was that when Sale did start to move the ball wide at pace, they were able to open up Worcester with relative ease.

Dean Schofield nearly got over on the flank after some lovely flat and speedy passing from Charlie and Big Mac. He managed to evade and outpace Delport but was tagged by Chris Pennell before he could ground.

Try as we might, that third try was appearing elusive.

Step up to the plate Ben Foden. He latched on to a beauty of a pass from Charlie, checking back slightly and then accelerating off his other foot to outfox Tucker.

He raced away to the flank, arcing around the back of Delport, and somehow managed to shift his centre of gravity to the other foot again before dancing back from the touchline and side-stepping the despairing Powell.

Don't you just love those dancing feet?

Jason who? Ok, fair enough, a little excessive I grant you, but that try was a cracker, conjured out of nothing really, and just demonstrated why he's been getting such rave reviews.

Unfortunately Charlie couldn't convert. His place kicking radar didn't seem to be functioning as well as usual.

With a deficit of 17 points you would've thought that Worcester might have taken the hint and called it a day, but no, not when you have players cast in the mould of Pat Sanderson. That man doesn't know what a lost cause is.

When you're at the wrong end of the table, you have to scrap for everything and even losing bonus points count.

Delport picked up a loose ball just inside his own half and started a jinking run that turned into a threat. Andrew Sheridan stopped him - dead.

Even though Ted led with his arms, Spredders saw only a shoulder and had no hesitation in sending him to the bin for 10 minutes. The crowd were delighted - I was perplexed.

Not quite as perplexed as Ted though - his face said it all.

Rasmussen's tackle some minutes later was just as bad, if not worse. He never even pretended to lead with his arms, yet he was only penalised. Where's the consistency in that?

You got the sense that something was about to happen.

The atmosphere on the field had been as icy as the temperature since the first whistle. Aleki Lutui and Sebastien Bruno had been sniping at each other as had Tom Wood, Tucker and Cueto.

From the lineout, Worcester drove the weakened Sale pack backwards deep into their 10-metre area before Sanderson peeled off the back of the maul to dab down mid way between the posts and the corner flag. Drahm snatched up the ball for the conversion and then World War 3 erupted.

I couldn't tell you who did what precisely to whom, but Bruno and Latui were at each other's throats and then Bruno appeared to take a swipe at his opposite number.

Wood charged back 10 metres or so and lamped Bruno with a forearm and Sale's hooker hit the floor.

All unnecessary of course, but sometimes passion gets the better of you. The thing is if you live by the sword, you have to die by it too.

Bruno knew if you raise your hands you'll probably get your marching orders. Which offence was worse, Bruno's or Wood's?

Who's to say, but at least Bruno's was an instantaneous reaction, not premeditated. To tag someone from behind isn't gentlemanly if you ask me.

At least Coxy retaliated from the front when he piled into Rawlinson.

Drahm converted and the two depleted teams commenced battle once more, but without the fists this time.

The best form of defence when you're under pressure is attack and that's precisely what the Sharks did. They took the game to Worcester and were rewarded with a penalty when Feaunati was pinged for side entry at a ruck near halfway.

Charlie didn't look like he was in the mood to take it, so captain White passed the mantle onto Sale new boy McAlister. He placed the ball and barely had time to set himself, when he ambled up and nailed a beauty of a kick straight between the sticks.

It looked effortless, and to someone of his quality, it probably was.

Neil Briggs and Eifion Lewis Roberts replaced Nathan Bonner Evans and David Tait and minutes later the Warriors were awarded another penalty for a ruck infringement directly in front of their posts on the 22 metre line.

A seven-man Sale scrum packed down with new recruit, Mr Versatile Lee Thomas joining Jason White in the back row.

Somehow they managed to wheel the scrum through 90 degrees. The look on the faces of Sale's forwards said it all and they whooped and cheered at their achievement. Big Mac despatched the kick with his customary aplomb.

Sililo Martens and Chris Mayor replaced Wiggy and my man of the match, Thomas, and McAlister moved to inside centre.

Sanderson and his Worcester team mates were not done though. They were determined to try and get the losing bonus point.

In spite of the return of Sheridan, the Warriors were able to use exactly the same play and suck Sale forwards into the rolling maul, allowing Sanderson the time and space to peel off the back and ground the ball before Big Mac could get to him. Drahm couldn't covert, so the score remained at 23-15.

Sale were given another penalty when Rasmussen tried to take Foden's head off his shoulders. Had he not been so slippery and elusive, he could well have been seriously damaged.

Yellow card? You tell me? McAlister nailed the kick to take the lead to 11 points.

With just under five minutes to go, Sale were desperate to crack on and secure not just the win, which was pretty much a formality by then, but also the winning try-bonus point.

Bonner Evans came back on replacing Briggs and Bruno returned too, fresh from his spell on Spredder's naughty chair.

If you can't beat them, join them seemed to be the ethos of the last passages of play. Worcester had used forward power to unlock Sale's defence, so the Sharks would do likewise.

Following a grinding passage of play, Sale managed to force a lineout on Worcester's five-metre line. Coxy took the ball well, but possession was ceded in the ensuing ruck.

For some bizarre reason the Warriors decided to run the ball across their own in-goal area rather than kick the ball into Gloucester. The pill eventually finished up with Mr Butterfingers, Marcel Garvey. He did manage to make it stick, but was bundled into touch by Lamont.

From the kick Sale mauled their way infield and sucked in Worcester's tiring defence. Schofield dropped to the back of the maul and peeled off and was pushed over by the posts by Bruno.

Fourth try - first away win for a year, no wonder the boys were deliriously happy. It mattered not that McAlister couldn't convert the final score when he was put off by a number of charging Worcester players. What mattered was the victory and the securing of that elusive away win.

It was a good night all round. All the media attention was understandably focused on Big Mac, as you'd expect.

He gave tantalising glimpses of what's to come and showed what class he really has in his boots and hands.

Coxy did as Coxy always does and gave his all. The Great White is back to his best - commanding and powerful and Ben Foden produced a mesmerising display at full back, he gets better and better each game.

For me though, the star of the show was Lee Thomas. His performance had everything - versatility, power, skill and the will to win. What more could you ask for from a player?

Philippe Saint-Andre said if you play well enough, then you will keep your shirt, regardless of reputation. Lee Thomas is a testament to the fact that the Frenchman meant what he said.

The Thomas/McAlister combination could well be the undoing of many a defence in the months to come.