Bok lock scores as Sale see off Newcastle

PREMIERSHIP FRIDAY WRAP: Sale powered into second place in the English Premiership after crushing Newcastle 31-16 at the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday.

Tries from Marland Yarde and Lood De Jager gave Sale an 18-6 lead at half-time and they were never in danger of surrendering that advantage.

AJ MacGinty converted one of those efforts and also added two first-half penalties, while Newcastle's response came via the boot of Brett Connon.

Connon was successful for a third time off the tee in the second period but two more MacGinty three-pointers effectively sealed a thoroughly deserved win for Alex Sanderson's men.

Joel Matavesi and Simon Hammersley traded late tries in the closing stages.

London Irish centre Terrence Hepetema was sent off as Leicester won a 33-32 thriller.

The Tigers had rested a number of their leading players at Bristol last weekend in readiness for this fixture and they were rewarded with a morale-boosting success.

Kobus Van Wyk, Oli Chessum and Kuri Murimurivalu scored Leicester's tries. Zack Henry converted the first two and kicked three penalties, while Johnny McPhillips added a penalty and a conversion.

Ollie Hassell-Collins, Matt Cornish and Paddy Jackson crossed for Irish with Jackson adding two penalties and two conversions.

Sale Sharks 31-16 Newcastle Falcons

The scorers:

For Sale Sharks:

Tries: Yarde, De Jager, Hammersley

Cons: MacGinty, R Du Preez

Pens: MacGinty 3, R Du Preez

For Newcastle Falcons:

Try: Matavesi

Con: Connon

Pens: Connon 3

Teams:

Sale Sharks: 15 Luke James, 14 Byron McGuigan, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Francois de Klerk (captain), 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Sam Dugdale, 6 Cobus Wiese, 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Josh Beaumont, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Bevan Rodd.

Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Jean-Pierre du Preez, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Simon Hammersley.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Tom Penny, 14 Mateo Carreras, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Callum Chick (captain), 7 John Hardie, 6Rob Farrar, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Trevor Davison.

Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Darren Barry, 20 Connor Collett, 21 Michael Young, 22 Joel Matavesi, 23 Alex Tait.

Referee: Andrew Jackson

Assistant referees: John Meredith & Jamie Leahy

TMO: Trevor Fisher

Leicester Tigers 33-32 London Irish

The scorers:

For Leicester Tigers:

Tries: Van Wyk, Chessum, Murimurivalu

Cons: Henry 2, McPhillips

Pens: Henry 3, McPhillips

For London Irish:

Tries: Jackson, Hassell-Collins, Penalty Try, Cornish

Cons: Jackson 2

Pens: Jackson 2

Teams:

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Guy Porter, 10 Zack Henry, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Cyle Brink, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Harry Wells, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Calum Green, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Luan de Bruin.

Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Johnny McPhillips, 23 Kini Murimurivalu.

London Irish: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Matt Rogerson, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Lovejoy Chawatama, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke.

Replacements: 16 Matt Cornish, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 George Nott, 21 Ben Donnell, 22 Ben Meehan, 23 Will Joseph.

Referee: Wayne Barnes

Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley & Philip Watters

TMO: Stuart Terheege