Sale edge Gloucester with with late try
PREMIERSHIP SATURDAY WRAP: A late try from the returning Josh Beaumont helped Sale seal a 22-19 win over Gloucester at Kingsholm on Saturday.
It was Sale's first victory since Steve Diamond's departure.
Gloucester led 16-9 at half-time after two tries inside 10 minutes from prop Fraser Balmain and wing Louis Rees-Zammit but the perfect boot of AJ MacGinty's kept Sale in touch before the interval as the USA international slotted three first-half penalties with a further two successful kicks in the second half bringing the scores to 16-15.
Lloyd Evans' third penalty eased Gloucester back to 19-15, but replacement second-row Josh Beaumont crossed two minutes from time to secure four points for the Sharks.
There was still time for an ugly late mass altercation between players from both sides and both benches after the score though, with the brawl leading to Gloucester replacement back Billy Twelvetrees being yellow carded for pushing a Sale water-carrier.
But the game had already effectively been decided by Beaumont crashing over a pile of bodies to score his first Premiership try of the campaign.
But, after being kept in it by MacGinty's punishment of too many penalty errors, Sale kept their heads to end a run of three straight losses, having been beaten by Toulon and Edinburgh in the Champions Cup prior to the Boxing Day home defeat by Wasps.
*In Saturday's other Premiership fixture Wasps thumped defending champions Exeter Chiefs 34-5 at the Ricoh Arena.
Gloucester 19-22 Sale Sharks
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Balmain, Rees-Zammit
Pens: Evans 3
For Sale Sharks:
Try: Beaumont
Con: MacGinty
Pens: MacGinty 5
Gloucester: 15 Kyle Moyle, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Jonny May, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Alex Craig, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 James Hanson, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Seb Nagle-Taylor, 21 Toby Venner, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Ollie Thorley.
Sale Sharks: 15 Sam James, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Robert du Preez, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Jono Ross (captain), 5 JP du Preez, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Valerey Morozov, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Luke James, 23 Byron McGuigan.
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Gareth Holsgrove, Peter Allan.
TMO: Geoff Warren
Wasps 34-5 Exeter Chiefs
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Tries: Gaskell 2, Sopoaga, McIntyre 2
Cons: Sopoaga 3
Pen: Sopoaga
For Exeter Chiefs
Try: Capstick
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Lima Sopoaga, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Jack Willis, 6 James Gaskell, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Joe Launchbury (captain), 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Tom West.
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Ben Morris, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Will Porter, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Jimmy Gopperth.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Tom O’Flaherty, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Tom Hendrickson, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Ian Whitten, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Richard Capstick, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Don Armand, 4 Will Witty, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 James Kenny, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Tom Price, 20 Rus Tuima, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Josh Hodge.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, John Meredith
TMO: David Grashoff
Source: @SaleSharksRugby