Robinson hits the heights to shake the Shed

Gloucester 44 Sale 35

Wildcard, wild competition. Gloucester were coasting at 37-14 and Sale were down to 14 men when the visitors, with Jason Robinson at his astonishing best, ran riot.

Wildcard, wild competition. Gloucester were coasting at 37-14 and Sale were down to 14 men when the visitors, with Jason Robinson at his astonishing best, ran riot.

Inspired by the exploits of Robinson, Sale, who had been very average, scored 21 points in the space of four minutes. Suddenly it was 37-35 and only an interception try by Robert Todd in injury time made the game safe for Gloucester.

Somebody must have been playing the joker. Pythagoras himself would struggle to get his head around this particular end-of-season format. Lose a semi-final and plan your holidays, right? Wrong. Sale can still qualify for the Wildcard final at Twickenham in a fortnight, depending on the results of next weekend's Heineken Cup and Parker Pen Challenge Cup finals.

Only Bath or the winners of today's match between Wasps and Northampton can win the Zurich Premiership but the also-rans, drinking at the second chance saloon, are looking to secure a place in next season's Heineken Cup.

Sale, who finished seventh in the Premiership, could have a second bite at the Cherry and Whites and should they qualify for Europe's crème de la crème, it would be particularly good news for Todd and Trevor Woodman, both of whom are leaving Kingsholm for Sale. The signing of Woodman by Philippe Saint-André, the former coach of Gloucester, is for a fee that will represent the tassle on the salary cap.

In one big respect it would be a blow if Sale didn't make it to the bigger stage - the absence of Robinson. It was sufficiently hot here yesterday for water bottles to be carried on to the pitch after they had been playing for a matter of seconds, but nobody was hotter than Billy Whizz.

The England full-back, who captained his club yesterday, scored a hat-trick of tries and created another as Gloucester won by three goals, a try and six penalties to five goals. That Sale scored five tries to Gloucester's four is also a mystery that would have escaped Pythagoras, but suffice to say it was down to one man.

In every other respect, Gloucester were in a class of their own. The West Country club were as dynamic as they had been anaemic seven days ago, when they conceded 40 points to Bath. Robinson aside, Sale had very little to offer, at least until the dying minutes. Their line-out was a nightmare and, forced to defend for 80 per cent of the time, they also got on the wrong side of the referee Roy Maybank, who constantly penalised them for offside.

He had a word with Robinson about it as early as the first quarter, and finally lost patience in the final quarter when he sent the prop Stuart Turner to the sin bin. That, of course, was the signal for Sale to scare the living daylights out of the Shed.

Gloucester had opened up a 21-7 lead by the break. Henry Paul, who kicked three penalties in each half, kept punishing Sale for falling offside and the home club had their own mini burst of scoring at the end of the half with 15 points in 11 minutes, including tries for Andy Hazell and Terry Fanolua, who was sent in by a slick reverse pass from Duncan McRae.

Dominant in almost every phase, Gloucester continued to build on their advantage and at the beginning of the second half McRae created a try for the wing Marcel Garvey, who easily beat his opposite number Steve Hanley to a cross kick as it bounced over the Sale line.

It was as well that Paul continued to kick his penalties as Robinson threatened to turn the match on its head. He had already scored an extraordinary try in the 25th minute. From a standing start he shot past Alex Brown and Peter Buxton before hurtling over at the posts.

Robinson got his second after a break by Chris Mayor, brilliantly created another for Hanley a couple of minutes later and when, in quick succession, Chris Jones and Robinson again, with a 60-yard burst, crossed at the posts, the impossible seemed probable. Gloucester's lead had been slashed to just two points and the roar that greeted Todd's final score could be heard in Twickenham.

Gloucester 44 Sale 35

Tries: Hazell, Fanolua,	Tries: Robinson 3, Hanley,
Garvey, Todd	C Jones

Cons: Paul 3; Cons: Hodgson, Hercus 4

Pens: Paul 6

Half-time: 21-7 Attendance: 4,859

Gloucester: J Goodridge; M Garvey, T Fanolua (R Todd, 68), H Paul, J Simpson-Daniel; D McRae, A Gomarsall; T Woodman, C Fortey, A Deacon, A Eustace, A Brown, J Boer (capt; M Cornwell, 72), P Buxton, A Hazell.

Sale: J Robinson (capt); M Cueto, C Mayor, C Rhys Jones (V Going, 74), S Hanley; C Hodgson (M Hercus, 64), S Benton (R Wigglesworth, 64); B Stewart, A Titterrell, S Turner, C Day, J White, C Jones, P Davies (M Lund, 40), H Perrett.

Referee: R Maybank (Kent)