Sale Sharks sink their teeth into Saracens

Sale Sharks’ big first half performance proved to be enough to beat Saracens 28-22 in the Aviva Premiership at Edgeley Park on Sunday.

Sale got off to an almost perfect start after Ben Cohen scored an early try for the hosts.

A short while later James Gaskell went over for Sale Sharks and Saracens looked to be in trouble.

Chris Bell added Sale’s third try but Owen Farrell kept Saracens in touching distance with three penalties for a half time score of 28-9.

Owen Farrell’s fifth penalty kick earned Saracens a losing bonus point.

By beating Saracens Sale Sharks ended a run of five consecutive defeats in all competitions and gave new coach Pete Anglesea his first win.

Anglesea’s first game in charge was a 54-21 humbling at Leicester, but his side looked revitalised in front of their home crowd at Edgeley Park. 

Final Score Sale 28 (28) Saracens 22 (9)

Scorers

Sale Sharks
Tries: Cueto, Gaskell, Bell
Conversions: Hodgson 2

Referee: Dave Pearson (149th Premiership game)

Teams

Sale Sharks :Paul Williams, Rhys Crane, Chris Bell, Kyle Tonetti, Mark Cueto (Captain), Charlie Hodgson, Dwayne Peel, Andrew Sheridan, Marc Jones, Karena Wihongi, Chris Jones, Kristian Ormsby, James Gaskell, Carl Fearns, Sisa Koyamaibole

Replacements Ben Roberts, Lee Imiolek, Henry Thomas, Sean Cox, Neil McMillan, Will Cliff, Nick Macleod, Mathew Tait

Saracens :15 Alex Goode, 14 Michael Tagicakibau, 13 Gavin Henson, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 James Short, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 1 Deon Carstens, 2 Schalk Brits, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 5 Mouritz Botha, 6 Jacques Burger, 7 Andy Saull, 8 Ernst Joubert

16 Jamie George, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 James Ellershaw, 19 George Kruis, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Nils Mordt, 23 Noah Cato,