Sale Sharks move to second after 40-7 win over Bristol Bears

Sale Sharks 40-7 Bristol Bears, AJ Bell Stadium
Scorecard

Sale Sharks came up with a six-try performance as they went on to trounce Bristol Bears in the 17th round of the Gallagher Premiership at AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday.

This is 10th win for Steve Diamond's men in the competition as they moved to the second place in the table with Bristol slipping down to third place.

Early scrum dominance from Sale Sharks got them off the mark in the seventh minute when Luke James went over the line following a pass from Daniel Du Preez and AJ MacGinty kicked the conversion to make it 7-0.

Three minutes later Sale Sharks doubled their tally as a loose pass in the scrum was capitalised by Denny Solomona as he went over the line with the fly-half improved it to make it 14-0. The home side tripled their lead in the 17th minute with Faf de Klerk also joining the try-scoring list.

Sale Sharks went on to claim the bonus point in the 32nd minute when Sam James crossed the whitewash to make the scoreline 26-0. The visitors finally got their first points on the board when MacGinty's pass was cut by Alapati Leiua as he dived over the line and Tiff Eden improved it but that remained their only points in the game.

The second half started with Sale Sharks having a 26-7 lead and they extended it further when Luke James touched down in the 50th minute and four minutes later Marland Yarde also dotted down. MacGinty was once again spot on with the conversions to make it 40-7.

Bristol thought they had a consolation try in the end but Piers O'Connor was stopped by a tackle from Manu Tuilagi. The 18th round will see Bristol heading to Sixways to face Worcester Warriors on 4th September while Sale Sharks will lock horns with Leicester Tigers on 5th September.