Solomona stars in Sale victory

Editor

Sale made it successive wins in the Premiership on Sunday as they shocked Wasps 34-28, with wing Denny Solomona scoring a hat-trick.

Solomona's first-half treble was followed by an effort from Mark Jennings while Josh Bassett, Ashley Johnson and Kurtley Beale went over for Wasps in the second-half.

Looking to make it five wins on the spin, Steve Diamond's Sale side took on a Wasps outfit who have picked up six victories from their last six Premiership rounds.

Something had to give though and it was the hosts who dominated the first 40. Will Addison took just five minutes to kick the Sharks into the lead, his long range penalty a taste of what was to come in a one-sided half.

Jimmy Gopperth levelled from close range on 10 minutes and another three put Wasps ahead, but it was to matter little in the long run. 

Solomona got the first try on 20 minutes after Wasps failed to deal with the pressure from the hosts. Coming off the wing, he snatched possession from the ruck and went in under the posts to allow the easy conversion to take Sale four points ahead.

Gopperth cut that gap down to one as he continued his strong start with the boot, but Sale continued to roll through their opponent. And in particular, Solomona was doing all the damage. His second of the afternoon came five minutes before the break, and it was a special one. He chipped over the top of Christian Wade and retrieved the ball before storming over the line for a brilliant solo effort.

Before the half was up, he had a hat-trick. A line-out caused panic in the Wasps 22 and after quick passes down the wing, Solomona only had to run on through as Sale blew the visitors away at the end of the half. Addison's conversion put Sale in 24-9 ahead.

And it didn't take much of the second-half for the bonus point to arrive. A five metre line-out spelt more trouble and Jennings was at the heart of the driving maul to grab number four, Addison converting his fourth of the afternoon.

Wasps did give themselves hope though with their first try. It came from a break as Beale's burst forward saw possession fed to Bassett who went over. Gopperth converted to reduce the arrears and a second try sparked real danger to Sale's strong first 50. It was easy in truth thanks to quick handling – Wade into Beale whose pass allowed Johnson to cut inside and touch down.

Addison reduced the hosts' nerves with a three pointer after the visitors were penalised for an offside.

But the comeback was certainly on when Wasps had try number three. With 10 still left on the clock, Willie le Roux and Beale combined wonderfully before the latter went over, with a conversion cutting the gap to only six points.

The hosts though held on to see out an impressive win.

The scorers:

For Sale:
Tries: Solomona 3, Jennings
Cons: Addison 4
Pens: Addison 2

For Wasps:
Tries: Bassett, Johnson, Beale
Cons: Gopperth 2
Pens: Gopperth 3

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Will Addison (c), 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Sam James, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 TJ Ioane, 5 George Nott, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 James Flynn, 18 Kieran Longbottom, 19 Tom Curry, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 AJ MacGinty, 23 Johnny Leota

Wasps: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Jimmy Gopperth, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Alex Rieder, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ashley Johnson (c), 5 James Gaskell, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Matt Mullan
Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Alapati Leiua, 23 Willie Le Roux

Referee: Matthew Carly
Assistant Referees: Ian Tempest, Anthony Woodthorpe
TMO: Sean Davey