Premiership: Sale comeback stuns leaders Leicester while Wasps beat Saracens

Sale Sharks produced a superb response from 21-5 behind to shock Premiership leaders Leicester Tigers and claim a 35-26 triumph at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The Midlanders were utterly dominant in the first half, taking advantage of numerous Sale errors to go 18-5 in front thanks to Julian Montoya and Guy Porter tries, while Freddie Burns kicked two penalties and a conversion.

Although Luke James hit back for the home side, another Burns three-pointer appeared to have put the Tigers out of reach, but Sale had other ideas.

Ben Curry began the comeback before further efforts from Arron Reed and Dan du Preez took the Sharks ahead.

Leicester did briefly regain their advantage through Montoya’s second try, but Alex Sanderson’s men were in the ascendency and successive AJ MacGinty penalties, allied by Tom Roebuck’s late breakaway try, sealed the win for the hosts.

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The Tigers, with veteran Richard Wigglesworth in as skipper and scrum-half, were first on the board when Burns kicked a monster of a penalty from just inside the Sale half.

The visitors had lost five of their previous six trips to Sale, but they signalled their battling intentions after 15 minutes when they bagged their first five-pointer.

After winning their lineout in the corner, Montoya barged through the scrum to touch down for a try which Burns converted from out wide.

Sale were not perturbed, however, and swiftly struck back.

A smart side-step from James allowed the hosts’ full-back to dart home to halve the deficit to 10-5.

Steve Borthwick’s men are not short on resilience, though, and it was not long before they were in again after Guy Porter thundered past two hefty challenges before going over in the left corner.

The Tigers took control in the second quarter when their passing and possession was much crisper.

They stretched their lead to 18-5 shortly before the interval when Burns nailed another exquisite penalty kick from long distance.

Sale had probed for openings throughout an entertaining opening 40 minutes, but the visitors looked to be at their imperious best.

Leicester made an equally competent start to the second period, with solid kicking and resolute defence keeping their opponents at bay.

The visitors won another penalty decision just inside the Sale half, and Burns obliged with the boot again to make it 21-5.

It was starting to look as though the Tigers might be about to cruise home, but back came the Sharks.

In the 52nd minute, Curry darted through a gap following a lineout and dived over to score. MacGinty added the extras.

When replacement Reed touched down in the corner minutes later, Sharks fans almost raised the roof.

MacGinty missed the tough conversion attempt but, at 21-17, Sanderson’s men were now back within sight.

When Dan du Preez then charged down Bryce Hegarty’s kick and dived over under the posts, the home fans went wild again.

Their side had now turned the game on its head, with MacGinty’s conversion making it 24-21 to Sale.

Montoya’s pushover try eased Leicester back in front, but joyous scenes greeted two nerveless penalty kicks from MacGinty and Roebuck’s late breakaway try as Sale sealed a thrilling fifth victory of the campaign.

Wasps continue resurgence by defeating Saracens

Jimmy Gopperth kicked 16 points as Wasps completed a hat-trick of impressive home victories with a 26-20 win over Saracens.

After beating Premiership leaders Leicester 16-13 and European champions Toulouse 30-22, they defeated fiercest rivals Sarries, who missed the chance to close the gap at the top of the table.

Gopperth kicked four penalties and converted both tries scored by Sam Spink and Elliot Stooke.

Alex Lewington, Nick Tompkins and Tom Woolstencroft scored Saracens’ tries, with Alex Lozowski adding a penalty and a conversion.

Wasps captain Joe Launchbury returned after a nine-month absence with damaged knee ligaments but they suffered a pre-match blow when prop Rodrigo Martinez injured his ankle in the warm-up and left the field on a stretcher.

However, they overcame this setback to take a fourth-minute lead with a simple penalty from Gopperth before going on to pick up the first try when Spink raced over after Saracens had failed to deal with a speculative up-and-under from Marcus Watson.

Gopperth converted but missed a straightforward penalty after a Saracens player had spoken out of turn to referee Karl Dickson.

It took the visitors 18 minutes to break into the opposition 22 but when they did a strong run from Tompkins won his side his penalty which Lozowski kicked to put the visitors on the scoreboard.

Gopperth nullified this with his second penalty before the visitors looked to have scored their first try.

A neat chip over the top from Manu Vunipola was twice hacked on by Alex Goode with Lewington appearing to win the race to touch down, but TMO replays showed that the wing had lost possession.

Lewington was not to be denied and rewarded a sustained period of pressure by supporting a burst from Billy Vunipola to dive over.

The visitors continued to dominate the second quarter and deservedly scored their second try when Woolstencroft forced his way over to leave the scores level at 13-13 at the interval.

Launchbury was replaced at the break by James Gaskell but resilient Wasps would not lie down and another penalty from Gopperth put them back in front before Tonga international centre Malakai Fekitoa was introduced for his first game since dislocating his shoulder back in September.

It was in time to see Gopperth kick his fourth penalty to give Wasps a six-point advantage going into the final quarter.

Saracens then had a second try ruled out by the TMO. Replacement Andy Christie secured the touchdown from close range but replays showed a Wasps player being impeded.

The game hung in the balance but Saracens were frequently on the wrong side of the refereeing decisions and the hosts broke out to seal victory with a try from Stooke four minutes from the end.

Saracens deserved something from the game and got it with a last-minute try from Tompkins, with Lozowski’s conversion securing the bonus point.

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