Chabal sees yellow as referee leaves his mark on disappointed Sale

Bath 24-20 Sale
Sébastien Chabal
Sébastien Chabal does not understand why he was sent to the sin-bin during Sale's defeat by Bath. Photograph: Henry Browne/Action Images

Sébastien Chabal played the role of pantomime villain so consummately — three rebukes from the referee for foul play, a yellow card which prompted a reluctant and angry walk to the sideline and a boom of boos from the crowd every time he touched the ball — that he should have auditioned for the role of the giant in the Bath Theatre Royal's current production of Jack and the Beanstalk.

The French international Chabal, who is in his fifth and final season with Sale, reckoned the person most worthy of disapproval was the referee, David Rose, whose penalty count was 15-5 in favour of Bath, although Rose would have been within his rights to have given the 31-year-old a second yellow card after half-time for taking out the Australian Justin Harrison in the air.

Chabal was sent to the sin-bin at the end of the first quarter. He had made a try-saving tackle on the scrum-half Michael Claassens and Rose was playing advantage for the second row not rolling away from the subsequent ruck when Chabal was trodden on by the Bath outside-half, Butch James. After Harrison had been knocked back by a Luke McAlister tackle and reacted petulantly, Chabal attacked Claassens from behind, sparking a mêlée and his ticket to the bin.

"Their scrum-half kicked me in the face," said Chabal. "That is why I jumped on him. I did not punch him and I do not know why I was sent to the sin-bin, but it was a day when everything went against us. We were wronged by the referee a lot; I had thought he was a good referee, but he did not let us do anything. We were much better in the scrum yet we were the ones penalised there.

"You cannot accept a kick in the face — it was not a hard one — but he did it and I hope he gets banned for a few months because it was really bad. I would not say that they targeted me; Harrison did pull my hair, you can take that."

Sale had two men in the sin-bin at one point in the second half. James had taken a quick throw-in even though a ball-boy had touched the ball, and the prop Stuart Turner saw yellow for not rolling away from the tackle. "The referee missed a number of things and he was inconsistent," said the Sale coach, Kingsley Jones, who spoke with Rose after the match. "It may have been the highest level he had officiated and he was not at his best."

Sale were leading 20-16 with less than three minutes to go when their composure faded. After Chabal won a turnover outside his own 25, Dwayne Peel's pass to Charlie Hodgson went to the outside-half's left and he had to turn to clear, kicking out on the full. Sale had to defend a lineout in their own 25 but Jason White stole the throw. The visitors wasted a second chance to clear, Stuart Hooper and Andy Beattie forcing a turnover. Bath moved the ball left, Alex Crockett kicked towards the line and Matt Banahan beat Mark Cueto to the catch to score.

It was hard on Sale who scored three tries to two and were the more creative side with Hodgson and McAlister combining imaginatively. But Bath, for all their derring-do, have developed a Munster-like resilience. Escapology, however, is not the surest route to the title.

Bath Abendanon; Maddock, Crockett, Fuimano-Sapolu, Banahan; James, Claassens (Bemand, 69); Barnes, Mears (Dixon, 72), Stevens (Bell, 72), Harrison (Hooper, 64), Short, Faamatuainu (Beattie, 64), Lipman , Browne.

Tries Browne, Banahan. Con James. Pens James 4.

Sin-bin Lipman 37

Sale Cueto; Bell, Tuilagi (Tait, 71), McAlister, Doherty; Hodgson, Peel; Sheridan (Turner, 77), Briggs, Turner (Faure, 48), Chabal, Schofield (Cockbain, 75), White, Abraham, Fernandez-Lobbe.

Tries McAlister, Cueto 2. Con McAlister. Pen McAlister.

Sin-bin Chabal 20; Turner 31

Referee D Rose (Midlands) Attendance 10,600