Du Preez brothers help Sale see off Bristol

PREMIERSHIP REPORT: Sale Sharks’ fine start to the Premiership season continued with a resilient 25-20 victory over Bristol Bears at the AJ Bell Stadium.

A competitive first half saw momentum swing both ways, though Bristol rallied to hold a two-point advantage at the interval, largely thanks to Piers O’Conor’s two converted tries.

Yet Jean-Luc du Preez’s second-half try, coupled with his brother Rob’s conversion and earlier penalty, powered the hosts to a seventh win of the season.

Sharks’ hard-fought win, a seventh in nine matches this campaign, reels in league leaders Saracens while a tenth-placed Bears fell to their sixth loss on the bounce.

Sale Sharks Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said: "You can really use that confidence. We talked about the kind of team we are. We said before the game no words, actions. Those were the actions. That’s what typifies what kind of team we are going forward and we can dig in like that when your back’s against the wall and scrap it out for each other.

"We’ll use it (confidence from the game) and we’ll show it a few times maybe next week and keep building on that.”

The scorers:

For Sale Sharks:

Tries: R du Preez, Roebuck, JL du Preez

Cons: R du Preez 2

Pens: R du Preez 2

For Bristol:

Tries: O'Conor 2

Cons: Sheedy 2

Pens: MacGinty 2

Source: premrugby