The first three minutes went pretty well for Marcus Smith.
A smart pass sent Luke Northmore cantering into Sale territory, a perfectly-weighted cross-field kick found Rodrigo Isgro on the opposite wing and a fine piece of opportunism secured him the game’s first try.
His face after 80 minutes told a different story.
Battered, bruised and well beaten, Smith had coughed up a horrendous blooper for Sale’s sixth try, failing to gather a routine backfield ball to allow a chasing Raffi Quirke to dot down.
Smith had taken a bang to the head a few minutes before, bravely throwing himself into the path of a stampeding Nathan Jibulu.
There was plenty of similar tackles to make as Sale scored 31 unanswered second-half points.
Smith is contracted to Harlequins until 2028, but the team will shift around him.
“There is no silver bullet to it, it is more medium to long term what we need to look at with our squad,” said coach Jason Gilmore after a sixth defeat in eight league games.
“What we have got with the squad, we need to look at. We have got some choices to make over the six months on recruitment and retainment. We need people who want to fight.”
After rising so far, so fast, so young, Smith faces possibly the most testing season of his career as he battles on both club and country fronts.