Sale Sharks reclaim second position with 31-40 win over Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers 31-40 Sale Sharks, Welford Road
Scorecard
Manu Tuilagi scored a try for Sale Sharks as they went on to beat Leicester Tigers 31-40 in the latest round of the Gallagher Premiership at Welford Road.
The win has taken Sale Sharks back to the second place with 55 points while Leicester's struggle continues as they lost their 12th encounter. This was also the first game for Tuilagi playing against his former side at Welford Road.
Leicester missed the chance to open the account early in the game when Nemani Nadolo spilled the ball near Sharks' line. Faf de Klerk helped the visitors off the mark with an eighth minute drop goal but George Ford negated it with a penalty kick in the 12th minute.
USA interernational AJ MacGinty crossed the whitewash in the 17th minute and also followed with the conversion before Ford's second three-pointer helped Leicester reduce the deficit.
Sale upped the ante with their new recruit dotting down following a pass from de Klerk with MacGinty improving it making the scoreline 6-17. As Ford and MacGinty exchanged penalties, Sale Sharks went into the break with a 11-point lead.
The start of the second half saw Jono Ross scoring for the visitors but his effort was negated with Hanro Liebenberg going over the line for the Tigers as the gap between the teams remained 11 points.
Sale wrapped up the bonus point when Solomona crossed the whitewash in the 63rd minute making it 16-37 before tries from Jake Kerr and Freddie Steward helped the Tigers reduce the losing margin.
