Sale Sharks stun Saracens to seal semi-final spot as holders lose home advantage

Sale Sharks booked their place in the Premiership play-offs, defeating Saracens 10-20 at the StoneX Stadium on Saturday.

The defeat means that many of Saracens’ legends have played their final home game including the likes of Owen Farrell, Sean Maitland and the Vunipola brothers.

It’s a historic victory for Sale, who claimed their first win at the StoneX in 20 years.

Tries from Tom Roebuck and Robert du Preez got Sale Sharks over the line, with George Ford kicking ten points.

Farrell kicked Saracens only three points in the first half, with Marco Riccioni scoring their only try of the match in the 65th minute.

She sale will now face Bath in the semi-finals of the Premiership, while Saracens are off to Franklin’s Gardens to face Northampton Saints.

Click here for teams and scorers

Manu Tuilagi, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday, has almost certainly played his last game in a Sharks shirt after he was forced off with a hamstring injury after 17 minutes.

Initial indications from the club were that the centre’s campaign was over and he would miss the semi-final against Bath on June 1 and a possible Twickenham final before his move to Bayonne in France.

Saracens’ defeat condemned them to a last-four knock-out game on the road against Northampton on May 31 after they had been favourites for a home tie.

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Sam James slipped into Tuilagi’s shoes effortlessly and was part of a Sale side that took won at the Stonex Stadium for the first time in the league.

In a repeat of last year’s final, Ford had helped Sale to a 17-point lead with 30 minutes left, with the visitors’ scrum and defence – led by Ben Curry – dominant before a brief Saracens fightback.

The hosts scored through Riccioni to make it a 10-point game but Sharks saw it through.

Saracens suffered a setback when wing Sean Maitland pulled out during the warm-up, a day after the Scotland international announced he would retire at the end of the season.

Alex Lewington, another retiring at the end of the campaign, filled Maitland’s spot shortly after leading his side onto the pitch alongside Farrell and Mako Vunipola.

Sale arrived at one of their bogey grounds on the back of four wins on the spin which had revived their race to the play-offs.

ALSO: Depleted Bristol beat Harlequins in thriller as both teams miss semi-finals spots

And despite the early loss of Tuilagi, the visitors led 10-3 at the break thanks to a Tom Roebuck score and the boot of Ford set against a Farrell penalty.

Roebuck’s score, his 10th of the league season, broke the deadlock after 22 minutes of stale rugby when Ford put some width on the attack and the wing beat scrum-half Ivan Van Zyl to run in.

Farrell cut the deficit but Sale could have increased their lead when Luke Cowan-Dickie touched down after a botched Saracens line out.

Referee Luke Pearce, after a look at the big screen, decided the hooker had lost control of the ball momentarily and the score was chalked off.

Ford extended Sale’s advantage after they won another scrum penalty and made it a 10-point game with another just after the break.

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Centre Rob Du Preez then made the most of a defensive slip-up by Lewington as he fielded a loose ball to make it 20-3 with half-an-hour left.

Saracens hit back when replacement prop Riccioni barged over from short range, but Sharks eked out time camped in enemy territory.

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The teams:

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Tom Parton, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Theo McFarland, 21 Billy Vunipola, 22 Aled Davies, 23 Alex Goode

Sale: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 JL du Preez, 7 Sam Dugdale, 6 Ben Curry (c), 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 James Harper, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Ben Bamber, 20 Ernst van Rhyn, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Sam James, 23 Arron Reed

Venue: StoneX Stadium
Kick-off: 15:05 BST (14:05 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Jack Makepeace, Simon Harding
TMO: David Rose