Bath and Sale Sharks end all square at the Rec

Bath and Sale Sharks could not be separated as they played out a hard-fought 7-7 draw in their Premiership encounter at the Recreation Ground on Sunday.

In an attritional affair, played in abysmal weather conditions, both sides scored a try apiece and we had to wait until the second-half for the game’s opening points.

Bath had a chance to score the first points in the eighth minute when Sale’s front-row were blown up for illegal scrummaging but Freddie Burns’ shot at goal was wide of the mark.

Despite that setback, the hosts continued to dominate but despite spending the next five minutes inside Sale’s 22, they could not open their account.

The visitors soaked up the early pressure but they too missed an opportunity to open the scoring in the 18th minute when Robert du Preez was wayward with a shot at goal after Jack Walker was penalised for a breakdown infringement.

The rest of the half was a slugfest highlighted by excellent defence from the teams although both sides were guilty of making several unforced errors during this period.

Sale finished stronger, however, and on the stroke of half-time fly-half Du Preez launched a crossfield kick which was gathered by Denny Solomona, who sailed over the try-line but television replays revealed he lost control of the ball while crossing the whitewash.

The game’s tight nature continued after the break although Sale opened the scoring in the 49th minute when Jean-Luc du Preez barged over from close quarters after Ben Curry was stopped just short of the try-line in the build-up.

Robert du Preez added the extras which gave the Sharks a 7-0 lead and the next 15 minutes was a tense affair as both sides battled to gain the ascendancy.

In the 67th minute, Bath had another shot at goal, after Ross Harrison was blown up for illegal play at a ruck, but James Wilson pushed the resulting penalty wide of the posts.

With time running out on clock, Bath desperately needed a response and that came in the 72nd minute thanks to some magic from Cooper Vuna. The replacement wing did well to beat a couple of defenders down the left-hand touchline before stabbing a grubber kick through which Joe Cokanasiga gathered before dotting down.

Wilson slotted the conversion which drew his side level and although Bath finished stronger, they could not add to their points tally and had to settle for the draw.

The scorers:

For Bath:
Try: Cokanasiga
Con: Wilson

For Sale Sharks:
Try: J du Preez
Con: R du Preez

Bath: 15 Ruaridh McConnochie, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Max Wright, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Will Chudley, 22 James Wilson, 23 Cooper Vuna

Sale Sharks: 15 Sam James, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 James O’Connor, 12 Luke James, 11 Chris Ashton, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 James Phillips, 4 Josh Beaumont, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 James Jones, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 Bryn Evans, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Arron Reed, 23 Josh Strauss

Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Christophe Ridley, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Geoff Warren