Sometimes you will succumb to the laws of the game." Sale should know, as they suffered near-death by Honiss's whistle.Andy Goode kicked six penalties in the second half to balance Sale's two expansive tries in the first, after which they led 24-9. Leicester's England captain Martin Corry rested his bruised ribs: a favour done by club to country, as was Sale restricting Andy Sheridan to a 25-minute run-out.Hodgson kicked like a dream and, if he threw a duff pass or two, it is now seen in a positive light. He tackled Chabal from a restart when the Frenchman was off the ground Then he pranged his own neck. Undeterred, he chased another ball and clattered into Chabal. Paul Honiss, the referee who will have charge at Twickenham on Saturday, fished out the yellow card and, just before half-time, Moody's return from his 62-day ban for fighting against Samoa was over."I remember Johno at the start of his career and you could guarantee he would be the first to give away a penalty," Moody said "He had an enthusiastic approach to the game as well. But whereas Munster repeatedly got their timing right, Moody three times got it wrong.

A match with hefty significance at the top of the Premiership - Sale's two points moved them closer to a home draw in the semi-finals - was overshadowed by talk of England Is Hodgson in the form of his life? Yes. Are Moody's lavish talents being diminished by a self-confessed loss of self-control? His Leicester coach, Pat Howard, thought so, confining Moody to barracks for the second half rather risk compounding a yellow card for a mistimed tackle with a red. In the press room afterwards, where Johnson used to mutter monosyllabically if at all, Hodgson said little other than to acknowledge his increasing comfort with the responsibility of his position. Moody admitted with typical candour that he has sought help to deal with the travails of the last two and half years: a couple of long injury lay-offs followed by two suspensions this season for punching."It's weird," said Moody, still a candidate to be England's No 7 against Wales on Saturday. "I've been playing this game 10 years and never been sent off, never been done for any sort of foul play before this season. I've been talking to a lot of guys - players, coaches - about how to keep control. It's not a psychologist as such, but the club has someone who deals with this stuff off the field - mentally preparing yourself - which has been quite useful."Leicester, like Munster the week before them, targeted Sale's No 8 S?stien Chabal.

We have to make sure we keep the belief that we can do it."What Steve McClaren needs, of course, are more Southgates; to clone a man prepared to play through the discomfort of an ankle injury which was suspected as being a stress fracture earlier this month.The early loss of Ugo Ehiogu to a tight hamstring after he had been selected for the injured Chris Riggott made Boro even riper for the plucking. As a former chief executive of the Premier League, Parry was asked what was the biggest hurdle to be faced."From experience, finding evidence," he replied "There's a lot of innuendo. There will be all sorts of accusations, but finding hard evidence is the key. Unless people are willing to come forward and admit they've received bungs then it's almost impossible to gain proof.". Martin Allen is rarely lost for words. Prior to this FA Cup fourth-round tie, the Brentford manager was at his most talkative, disingenuously suggesting that he would rather have faced Chelsea than Sunderland, on the grounds that his battle-hardened League One outfit would have ruffled the feathers of Jose Mourinho's cosmopolitan troupe of prima donnas. But following his side's manhandling of the Premiership's bottom club at Griffin Park on Saturday, Allen was in unusually reticent mood "All I can say is that I thought it was a deserved victory.

We were dominant throughout," he said, adding that two neatly taken goals had shown that DJ Campbell possesses "that bit of magic". Despite sitting some 29 places below their visitors in the Football League, Brentford exuded a calm assurance that belied this tie's pre-match billing as Black Cats against the underdogs.And although the quicksilver Campbell, all deft touches and slippery running, took the plaudits with a match-winning display, Mick McCarthy was left to bemoan his side's inability to marshal a striker who, he noted, had been playing non-league football only a year ago."I'm not criticising Brentford because they deserved to win, and they were two excellent finishes. I think he's next in line."A four-strong group finished at nine under, including England's Nick Dougherty and Richard Finch. Els could not muster a charge, the South African making a level-par 72 to finish at five under. That put him three shots clear of the other main draw of the weekend, the world No 2 Vijay Singh, who, after three rounds of struggle with his putting, saved his best round for last with a 68.. Martin Johnson may have retired but his spirit pervaded Welford Road on Saturday. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Johnson's ears must have been burning red-hot. Sale's England fly-half Charlie Hodgson did his best actions-speak-louder-than-words bit, while Leicester's errant flanker Lewis Moody likened the "enthusiasm" which cut short his comeback match to that of the younger "Johno".

"My main goal this year is to make the Ryder Cup, which means playing more European events," he said. "There's a long way to go but I am definitely closing in on the team now, and another good couple of weeks and we should have that sorted."One behind at the start of his round, Broadhurst was impressed by what he saw playing alongside Stenson "He's the next special one from Europe," he said "He's got a great chance of winning majors. A year ago, he was unable to close out the tournament despite starting his final round with a two-shot lead as Ernie Els came from five shots back to pip him. This time, he delivered on the promise he has shown of late, which has led some to describe him as the best player in Europe.Stenson's win brought him £188,000 and a step closer to realising his key ambition of the season. Henrik Stenson held his nerve in challenging conditions to win the Commercialbank Qatar Masters by three strokes here yesterday but he was pushed all the way by a resolute Paul Broadhurst.