The stakes were high at the Salford Community Stadium, with both sides firmly in the hunt for places in the end-of-season play-offs, and Sale Sharks secured a comfortable bonus-point victory that lifted them above Bristol Bears with one round of matches remaining.
George Ford, continuing his rich vein of form, shrugged off the disappointment of being left out of the British & Irish Lions squad to tour Australia to dictate the game masterfully, capitalising on a strong performance by his pack and kicking seven out of seven from the tee.
Ben Curry, another overlooked by the Lions, was another highly influential performer as Bristol’s vaunted attack was not allowed to click into gear. After a sticky start Sale found their fluency to score five tries, piloted around the field by Ford’s smart game management, and they have taken a substantial step nearer to a third successive appearance in the play-offs.
“Fordy’s our little cheat code,” Curry said. “He’s a proper standard bearer, he just seems to get it right every time. There aren’t many players in the world that are like him. He’s unbelievable to play with.”
Pat Lam, the Bristol director of rugby, acknowledged the role Ford had played. “We had a kicking game, but we didn’t execute that anywhere near as well as George Ford, that was a bit of a masterclass,” Lam said. “He’s on fire at the moment.”
Bristol scored five tries of their own but AJ MacGinty and Harry Byrne could not match Ford’s accuracy from the tee, missing four conversions between them. Yet the bonus point was secured when Byrne scored a fourth try, which could come in handy in the scrap for a top-four place.
The home side’s forwards were in the ascendancy from an early stage and the pressure eventually began to tell. Ford opened the scoring with a penalty goal and then Rob du Preez found Tom Roebuck with a long pass, Curry accelerated down the right like an outside centre, looking as though he might score himself, but he handed on to Dan du Preez, the No8, to touch down.
Bristol, the second-highest points scorer in the league, are capable of creating something even when they have only scraps of possession and a moment of magic was conjured by Harry Randall to put his side on the board. From a lineout over the top, Rob du Preez had just put a huge hit on Benhard Janse van Rensburg in midfield, the aftershocks of which were still being absorbed by many of the players. But Randall, as ever, was quick of mind and fleet of foot, nipping down the side of the breakdown, stepping off his left foot and surging clear to score a fine try.
Sale were missing their two injured Lions, Tom Curry and Luke Cowan-Dickie, but they also had a number of players likely to tour Argentina with England. One of those, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, the tight-head prop, does not turn 21 until July but he was a constantly flickering presence with his sharp footwork and deft handling. He created the momentum for Sale’s second try in the 36th minute when he picked up neatly from the base of a ruck, flicked out a lovely pass as Jean-Luc du Preez followed up and Tadgh McElroy, the hooker, was able to plunge over from short range.
Trailing 20-5 at half-time, Lam made three changes to his pack during the interval in an attempt to gain a foothold up front, including the introduction of Ellis Genge, Bristol’s Lion, to the front row. The impact was swift as Bears began to compete at the breakdown and Sharks began conceding penalties. In the 48th minute Bristol kicked one of those penalties to the corner, drove hard from the lineout and Viliame Mata touched down to score.
Four years ago Jonny Hill was a Lion, touring South Africa without making the Test squad. His international career has faltered since then but he remains an outstanding lock at Premiership level. He scored Sale’s third try after Joe Carpenter’s clever kick had earned them an attacking lineout, Bristol were penalised in defence and Hill took a quick tap penalty, using every bit of his 6ft 9in frame to reach over and score.
Ford’s conversion put Sale 27-10 ahead but Bristol hit back once again, Gabriel Ibitoye’s floated pass putting Siva Naulago into the right corner with a spectacular aerial finish. Yet Sale put the result beyond doubt when Hill rose high at the lineout and Rekeiti Ma’asi-White scored on the crash ball in midfield. For good measure, Raffi Quirke scored Sale’s fifth try and, although Byrne and Kalaveti Ravouvou scored late for Bristol, the damage had already been done.
Sale Sharks: J Carpenter (A Wills 76); T Roebuck, R du Preez, R Ma’asi-White (S Bedlow 71), T O’Flaherty; G Ford, G Warr (R Quirke 59); B Rodd (S McIntyre 62), T McElroy (A Longstaff 76), A Opoku-Fordjour (W John 62), E van Rhyn, J Hill (B Bamber 71), J-L du Preez (D du Preez 76, Hill 77), B Curry, D du Preez (S Dugdale 62).
Bristol Bears: R Lane (S NAulago 24); K Ravouvou, B J van Rensburg, J Williams, G Ibitoye; A J MacGinty (H Byrne 71), H Randall (K Marmion 62); J Woolmore (E Genge 41), G Oghre (W Capon 73), G Kloska (M Lahiff 41), J Caulfield (J Dun 41), J Batley (J Owen 59), S Grondona, F Harding, V Mata.
Referee: A Leal.
Attendance: 7,816.
Gloucester keep themselves in play-off hunt
Gloucester kept their hopes of a play-off place alive with a bonus-point win against a Newcastle Falcons side who had Ben Stevenson sent off and collected two yellow cards as they slipped to a 15th league defeat (writes Chris Jones).
It was not the farewell Callum Chick was hoping for in his final home game after agreeing to join Northampton Saints with a 22nd-minute yellow card. He was joined in the sin-bin one minute later by flanker Cameron Neild, whose yellow card earned Gloucester a penalty try. Seb Atkinson scored from the restart to end a calamitous period for the 13-man Falcons.
Stevenson’s seventh-minute try had given the crowd the fleeting belief that they could earn a third win of a disastrous season but the former Falcon Chris Harris scored from a set move that exposed the home side’s defence, with Santi Carreras adding the conversion. The bonus-point try came from Jack Cotgreave, which was triggered by an electric break by Tomos Williams, the Gloucester scrum half.
Gloucester have now won four in a row against Newcastle but had to survive a late fightback, with Joe Davis racing over for Newcastle before Freddie Lockwood was held up over the tryline. Stevenson was sent off for taking out Carreras in the air in the 72nd minute.
Newcastle E Obatoyinbo; B Redshaw (M Pepper 60min), A Hearle (O Spencer 75, S Arnold, B Stevenson (sent off 72); B Connon, S Stuart (J Davis 50); A Brocklebank (M Rewcastle 75), J Blamire (B Byrne 54), M McCallum (L de Bruin 61), J Hawkins (O Usher 65), S de Chaves, C Neild (sin-bin 23, F Lockwood 65), T Gordon, C Chick (sin-bin 22).
Gloucester S Carreras (C Atkinson 73); C Wade (W Butler 70), C Harris (sin-bin 44), S Atkinson, J Cotgreave, G Ancombe, T Williams (C Englefield 69); Gotovtsev (A Fasogbon 54) A Clark, F Clarke, F Thomas (C Jordan 70), L Ludlow, R Ackermann (A Tuisue 60).
Referee; M Carley.
Attendance; 5,875.
