Sale Sharks battle past Worcester Warriors
PREMIERSHIP FRIDAY WRAP: Sale Sharks secured their second consecutive Premiership victory under interim head coach Paul Deacon with a battling 20-13 triumph over Worcester Warriors at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Springbok Faf de Klerk crossed to put Sale ahead while AJ MacGinty's boot sent them in with a 13-3 lead at half-time.
Duncan Weir's pair of penalties either side of the break kept Worcester to within seven points of the hosts.
Late on, Jono Ross ran in for the hosts before Worcester were awarded a late penalty try in the final stages.
The win moves Sale up two places in the Premiership table to third while Worcester climb above London Irish into 10th thanks to a losing bonus point.
The hosts came into the match without Dan du Preez who was banned for three weeks following their ill-tempered win against Gloucester on Saturday.
The result means Worcester are without a win in six games in all competitions, with their most recent victory coming against in their narrow 11-10 win against London Irish in November.
Friday's other Premiership match saw Wasps won 52-44 away to Bath on Friday in a remarkable English Premiership encounter featuring 11 tries as they recorded a fifth successive victory in all competitions.
Sale Sharks 20-13 Worcester Warriors
The scorers:
For Sale Sharks
Tries: De Klerk, Ross
Cons: MacGinty 2
Pens: MacGinty 2
For Worcester Warriors:
Try: Penalty try
Pens: Weir 2
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 Josh Beaumont, 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 Valery Morozov, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Phillips, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Luke James, 23 Byron McGuigan
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Oli Morris, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Nick David, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Marco Mama, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ted Hill (captain), 5 Justin Clegg, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Isaac Miller, 17 Marc Thomas, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 George Merrick, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Sam Lewis, 22 Gareth Simpson, 23 Jamie Shillcock
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Paul Dix, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Claire Hodnett
Bath 44-52 Wasps
The Scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: Priestland, Underhill, Redpath, Stooke
Cons: Priestland 3
Pens: Priestland 5, Spencer
For Wasps:
Tries: Cruse 2, Shields, Odogwu 2, Bassett
Cons: Sopoaga 6
Pen: Sopoaga
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Taulupe Faletau, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 4 Josh McNally, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Josh Matavesi, 23 Gabriel Hamer-Webb
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 Jack Willis, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Gaskell, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Brad Shields, 20 Tom Willis, 21 Will Porter, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Marcus Watson
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant Referees: Greg Macdonald, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Tom Foley
Source: @SaleSharks & @PremRugby