It doesn't always require a qualified 'wine consultant' to identify a non-vintage performance. Brendan Venter, whose ever-changing job title at Saracens has been a subject of debate all week, will certainly not be cracking open the special reserve when he rewatches this game, ultimately most notable for Sale's perseverance, physicality and resilience after being reduced to 13 players at one stage in the first quarter.

Committed and cussed from start to finish, Sale deserved this unexpected success over hosts who seldom made it beyond second gear despite having a liberal sprinkling of England internationals in their pack. Tries for Nathan Jibulu, Tom O'Flaherty and Ben Bamber, underpinned by the experience of George Ford, Tom Curry and Courtney Lawes, represented a major upgrade on their opening weekend home loss to Bristol.

To compound Sarries' pain, their England duo of Theo Dan and Elliot Daly departed prematurely in the second half while Alfie Barbeary lasted only 40 minutes. Jamie George is back in training but this was a timely day for a young English hooker like Jibulu to prosper. The former Harlequin was given the man-of-the-match award and was singled out for special praise by his director of rugby, Alex Sanderson.

"It shows he's of international class," said Sanderson. "He nailed his lineouts and was a wrecking-ball runner. It could be the year where he explodes onto the international scene. There's been a lot of rotation for England after Luke Cowan-Dickie or Jamie. There's not really one person standing up and taking that No 2 shirt. This could be a good opportunity for him."

The contrast with last season, when Sale leaked 150 points in their two fixtures against Saracens, could scarcely have been more pronounced. It certainly seemed to help the Sharks that the high-flying Noah Calouri was not involved here, with Sarries often struggling for consistent rhythm despite the presence of England forwards like Maro Itoje, Ben Earl and George Martin.

A nicely worked try scored by Charlie Bracken following a compelling surge from his brother Jack, did narrow the gap to 21-17 entering the closing stages but Sale, motivated and physical, had enough in reserve physically to silence a home crowd previously encouraged by last week's win at Leicester.

At least it was a lovely sunny afternoon in north London, mellow enough to start pondering what ­Saracens' 'wine consultant' might have served up had he still be in position. Unfortunately Venter – or 'Brendan Vintner' as he has been dubbed – now goes by the less snappy title of 'head of culture and technical director' with corkscrews no longer required. Speaking to the written media, regardless, is not top of his priority list, with head coach Joe Shaw again wheeled out for post-match duties instead.

It is a shame on multiple fronts, partly because the ex-Springbok is good value on numerous topics and, perhaps more pertinently, because English club rugby currently needs all the publicity it can muster. Speaking to TNT Sport before the game, Venter even suggested he is not in charge of picking the team, which is a bit like arguing the prime minister is not wholly responsible for his government's policies. Instead he says it is a collegiate enterprise which, this week, lasted five hours and involved selecting teams for the season's first eight weeks. The 'wine' analogy arose from a pre-season theme about the importance of finding the right blend.

Make of that what you like but it is on-field performances that will ultimately do the talking. Saracens took far too long to get going on Sunday and were kept scoreless until the 33rd minute, when Eroni Mawi finally ploughed over from close range. Given Sale were two men down for a large chunk of the opening half hour, Jacques Vermeulen having received a 20-minute red card for a high challenge on Tomos Williams after Alex Lozowski had been binned previously, the hosts' lethargy was even stranger.

To say the first half was messy would be overselling it, particularly given the talent on the pitch. There was even a split second when it seemed Sale might be reduced to 12 but, fortunately for them, an attempted knock-down of a Fergus Burke chip by Lawes flew backwards rather than forwards. Saracens, though, had a potential score by Nick Tompkins belatedly scrubbed out for obstruction at a preceding lineout and the crowd fell increasingly silent. It was hard to see much in the way of patterns or consistency until Mawi's plunge provided much-needed relief.

The second half, thankfully, was more absorbing. After O'Flaherty's solo intervention, reacting quickest as everyone else waited for a mishit high punt to descend, Saracens badly needed something having replaced Barbeary, Hugh Tizard and both starting props at half-time. The reshuffle was duly rewarded when centre Sione Va'enuku exploited a narrow visiting defence but Bamber's last-quarter charge, set up by Ford's cute offload, proved to be the killer blow.