- Gallagher Premiership
- Saturday, August 29th 2020
- AJ Bell Stadium
| Sale | 40 | |
|
Bristol | 7 |
Match Report
Will Carpenter reports from AJ Bell Stadium
Report: Sale Sharks 40-7 Bristol Bears
Saturday, August 29th 2020
A youthful Bears side fell to defeat at the hands of a powerful Sale Sharks side at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday.
Pat Lam gave Premiership debuts to six players in the north west, with 13 aged 23 or under, but the visitors found themselves outmuscled, as the Sharks ran in six tries to storm to a bonus-point win.
Alapati Leiua grabbed a consolation for the Bears just before half time, but that was as good as it got on a tough afternoon.
What happened?
In a dominant first half from the home side, tries from Luke James and Denny Solomona had the Sharks 14-0 up inside ten minutes.
De Klerk latched on to Du Preez’s offload to race in for a third on 17 minutes, and Sale had the bonus point in the bag on 32 minutes when Sam James squeezed in at the corner.
Leiua’s 50 metre interception grabbed a try back for the visitors before half time, but the Bears were up against it.
Luke James went over for his second early into the second half before Yarde scored another from a well-worked set-piece.
Hope for the @BristolBears just before half-time...
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) August 29, 2020
Alapati Leiua with the interception to get the visitors on the board! 🐻 pic.twitter.com/ntQKdGndId
Teams and scorers
Bristol Bears: Malins (Powell 67), Leiua, O’Conor, S Piutau (c), Bates; Eden (Lloyd 48), Uren (Randall 50); Woolmore (Assiratti 55), Capon (Kloska 69), Y Thomas (McCabe 67), Holmes (Hawkins 55), Joyce, Dun, Heenan, Earl (Eadie 50).
Replacements: Kloska, McCabe, Assiratti, Hawkins, Eadie, Randall, Lloyd, Powell.
Sale Sharks: L James; Solomona, James, Tuilagi, Yarde; MacGinty, De Klerk; Harrison, Van der Merwe, Oosthuizen, J-L du Preez, De Jager, Curry, Curry (c), D du Preez.
Replacements: Langdon, Morozov, John, Postlethwaite, Ross, Cliff, Janse van Rensburg, Reed.
Bristol Bears: Tries: Leiua 37. Cons: Eden 37
Sale Sharks: Tries: L James 7, 49, Solomona 10, De Klerk 17, S James 32, Yarde 54. Cons: MacGinty 7, 10, 17, 49, 54
Key moment
The Sharks flew out of the blocks with three tries in the opening 15 minutes - and the young Bears never recovered from this early setback.
Leiua's interception just before the break gave the Bears a lifeline, but it was mere consolation.
Pat Lam reaction
Man of the match: Yann Thomas
In a losing cause, Yann Thomas put in a huge shift on both sides of the scrum against a powerful Sale side.
The Bristolian featured at loosehead and tighthead at the AJ Bell as the Bears fell short.
Images courtesy of JMPUK.
Sale
- Tries:
- James (2), Solomona, James, Yarde, de Klerk
- Conversions
- MacGinty (5)
- Penalties:
- Yellow Cards:
Bristol
- Tries:
- Leiua
- Conversions:
- Eden
- Penalties:
- Yellow Cards:
