Sharks sink on the Mediterranean

Try for Montpellier: Jim Nagusa

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• Sale

Montpellier ran three second-half tries past Sale Sharks to claim a 33-18 Heineken Cup win at Stade Yves du Manoir on Sunday.

Montpellier's win made it a French double in the second round of Pool Six after Toulon's victory in Cardiff.

Three Montpellier scores in the middle of the second half was when the damage was done, as up until then, Sale had matched the home side.

Mark Cueto's first try of the season got the ball rolling in the fourth minute. Tom Brady made a great break on his right wing, after Joe Ward had turned over on the five metre line. The ball was recycled to Danny Cipriani, who kicked wide for the former England international to collect the ball on the bounce.

Rob Miller missed the conversion attempt, but Montpellier's kicker, Argentinian Martin Bustos Mayano fared better with his shots at goal.

Four out of four first half penalty kicks, against Miller's solitary strike, gave the French side a 12-8 lead at the interval.

Miller's accuracy returned soon after the restart to narrow the gap to a single point, but fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc started the onslaught on 51 minutes.

Incredible momentum in the scrum gave Johnnie Beattie the platform for a great pick and go, before he offloaded to Trinh-Duc, who did the rest.

Thomas Combezou offloaded to Timoci Nagusa for the Fijian to race down the wing to extend the lead five minutes later.

Julien Tomas put the game beyond doubt on the hour, after a great move by Trinh-Duc, who gave his scrum-half a superb reverse pass, with Tomas racing through to dot down.

All three scores were converted, but Richie Vernon scored the last try of the game with six minutes left, for what was to be a consolation for the Sharks.

The scorers:

For Montpellier:
Tries: Trinh-Duc, Nagusa, Tomas
Cons: Bustos Moyano 3
Pens: Bustos Moyano 4

For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Cueto, Vernon
Cons: Miller
Pens: Miller 2

Montpellier: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Pierre Bérard, 13 Timoci Nagusa, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Martin Bustos Moyano, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Aliki Fakate, 3 Maximiliano Bustos, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Juan Figallo.
Replacements: 16 Rassie van Vuuren, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Vincent Pelo, 19 Mickael Demarco, 20 Alexandre Bias, 21 Benoit Paillaugue, 22 Santiago Fernandez, 23 Thomas Combezou.

Sale Sharks: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Will Addison, 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Cillian Willis, 8 Mark Easter, 7 David Seymour (capt), 6 James Gaskell, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Joe Ward, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Vadim Cobilas, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Andy Powell, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Nick Macleod, 23 Johnny Leota.

Venue: Stade Yves du Manoir, Montpellier
Referee: Neil Paterson