Sale Sharks succumbed to the dead-eye accuracy of the boot of Benoit Paillaugue in the European Challenge Cup quarter-finals as the scrum-half propelled Montpellier to a 25-19 triumph at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Fly-half Danny Cipriani scored 20 points as Sale Sharks left London Irish looking down at the Aviva Premiership trap door with just a handful of games left.
Josh Charnley will switch codes at the end of the season when he leaves rugby league side Wigan Warriors to join Premiership rugby union club Sale Sharks.
Danny Cipriani scored a match-winning try against Leicester as Sale maintained their 11 month unbeaten home record in the Aviva Premiership in a game that was suspended during the second half due to thunder and lightning.
Sale's hooker Tommy Taylor has been included alongside captain Dylan Hartley and Luke Cowan-Dickie in a 26-man squad ahead of the team announcement due on Thursday afternoon.
The English winger was rewarded with a new two-year deal at Sale Sharks this week after a superb first five months at the club and now he is keen to push on at the AJ Bell as his Premiership dream continues
Danny Cipriani's fourth missed conversion cost Sale a dramatic comeback victory as the Sharks drew 36 apiece with Saracens in a thrilling encounter at the AJ Bell.
Eddie Jones has ordered Danny Cipriani to let his rugby do the talking if he wants to reclaim his England place amid a warning to all players that Test rugby is not a "kindergarten class".