Du Preez helps Sale book spot in play-offs
PREMIERSHIP FRIDAY WRAP: Sale Sharks sealed their spot in the play-offs with an impressive 36-20 victory over hosts Bristol Bears on Friday.
George Ford starred for the visitors on a memorable evening for the Sharks at Ashton Gate, with four penalties, three conversions and a drop goal from his boot.
Three of his penalties and a Ben Curry try saw Sharks hold an 11-point advantage at one stage, before Siva Naulago scored for the hosts.
However, tries from Jean-Luc du Preez and Gus Warr extended Sharks' advantage and Gabriel Ibitoye's late score was a mere consolation for the Bears.
Victory means Sharks sit seven points ahead of Leicester in the table, as they look to seal a home semifinal.
In Friday's other game, Bath battled back to beat local rivals Gloucester 33-24 at Kingsholm.
Gloucester at one point were 17 points ahead, but Bath responded to seal a bonus-point victory for just their second win away from home since April 2022.
Stephen Varney and Santiago Carreras scored early on to help the Cherry & Whites build up a lead, before a penalty try and Miles Reid's score saw the visitors claw back some ground.
Seb Atkinson put the hosts further ahead, but Bath responded by scoring 21 unanswered points through Reid, Joe Cokanasiga and Sam Underhill.
The scores and scorers:
Bristol Bears 20-36 Sale Sharks
The scorers:
For Bristol:
Tries: Naulago, Ibitoye
Cons: MacGinty 2
Pens: MacGinty, Williams
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: B Curry, JL du Preez, Warr
Cons: Ford 3
Pens: Ford 4
DG: Ford
Yellow card: Ellis Genge (Bristol, 53')
Teams:
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Joe Jenkins, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall (co-captain), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Fitz Harding, 6 Steven Luatua (co-captain), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Sam Bedlow, 23 Ioan Lloyd.
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jono Ross, 7 Ben Curry (captain), 6 Tom Curry, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Jean-Luc du Preez, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simon McIntyre.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Sam James, 23 Arron Reed.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal, Andrew Jackson
TMO: Dean Richards
Gloucester 24-33 Bath
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Varney, Carreras, Atkinson
Cons: Carreras 3
Pen: Carreras
For Bath:
Tries: Penalty Try, Reid 2, Cokanasiga, Underhill
Cons: Spencer 3
Yellow cards: Lewis Ludlow (Gloucester, 29'); Piers Francis (Bath, 74')
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Billy Twelvetrees, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Mayco Vivas.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Freddie Thomas, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 George Barton, 23 Jonny May.
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Miles Reid, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Ted Hill, 5 GJ van Velze, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano.
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Valeriy Morozov, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Fergus Lee-Warner, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Max Green, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Josh Bayliss.
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Jack Makepeace
TMO: Tom Foley
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