First-half blitz sees Sale Sharks shock Exeter Chiefs

Adam Kyriacou

An impressive first-half performance saw a refreshed Sale Sharks overcome league leaders Exeter Chiefs 22-19 at Sandy Park to move up to third position in the Premiership standings on Saturday.

The Sharks’ defending was the key to their victory, which was outstanding as they scored all their points in the first half through tries by wing Chris Ashton, number eight Dan du Preez and wing Byron McGuigan, with fly-half Robert du Preez landing a penalty and conversion.

Exeter had one try from full-back Phil Dollman going to the second period but, in the final quarter, number eight Sam Simmonds and wing Tom O’Flaherty scored touchdowns, with fly-half Gareth Steenson converting both.

Sale’s pack led the charge as the Sharks put Exeter under the cosh for the majority of the first quarter. Fly-half Du Preez made the Chiefs pay for a ruck offence with a 40-metre penalty before big lock Bryn Evans dived over for a try which was ruled out by the TMO.

Depleted Exeter, missing at least 10 frontline men, looked at sixes and sevens when O’Flaherty was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on.

The Chiefs held their line but former England wing Ashton strode past the cover for an unconverted try.

On the half-hour mark, good work inside the Sale 22 saw Dollman race to the left corner and just beat Ashton’s attentions to grab a unconverted try.

It looked like game on, particularly as Sale centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg was lucky to only see yellow when high tackling Chiefs playmaker Steenson.

But two hammer blows put the 14-man Sharks in a commanding half-time lead. Excellent line-out work on the blindside gave number eight Du Preez a run to the line, past some floundering defence.

And seconds later, a wild pass on halfway from Chiefs scrum-half Stu Townsend was picked off by McGuigan to run in, with Robert Du Preez converting.

At 22-5 behind, it gave the Premiership leaders a mountain to climb in the second half.

The match went flat until Exeter found some territory and became encamped on the opposition line. But remarkable Sharks defence for five minutes, only a metre or so from their line, kept the Chiefs at bay.

Lock Jonny Hill and Simmonds both went over but were denied tries. Eventually, Sale’s resistance broke as a close-range scrum wheeled and Simmonds plundered over.

Steenson’s conversion put Exeter 10 points adrift heading into the last 10 minutes.

And, in the blink of an eye, Exeter were within three points of a draw when O’Flaherty was put away over halfway and, despite another Ashton cover tackle and following a long TMO referral to decide if the wing had dropped the ball, the try was given.

Steenson converted again and, with five minutes left, there was time for Exeter to win it.

But the battling Sharks put the pressure on the home side, reached their line and ran down the clock for the victory.

Elsewhere in the Premiership, Bristol Bears proved too strong for West Country rivals Gloucester as they were 34-16 winners at Ashton Gate, while Wasps edged Worcester Warriors 30-26 at Sixways and Bath beat Leicester Tigers 13-10 in a low-scoring game at the Recreation Ground.

There were no tries in the first period at Bristol but after the break Henry Purdy, Luke Morahan and Mat Protheroe went over for the home side, with Freddie Clarke responding late on for the Cherry and Whites. Victory takes Bristol fifth in the table while Gloucester drop to fourth.

Wasps’ bonus-point result saw Jimmy Gopperth, Zach Kibirige, Jack Willis and Dan Robson cross as they climb to eighth place on Saturday night, while Bath had Tom Homer to thank as they edged their old rivals. Homer crossed twice for them while Ben White scored for Tigers.