Blues start with close win over Sale

The visitors hit back nine minutes later with a five-pointer from right wing Leigh Halfpenny for a tender 7-5 lead.

Former Natal Sharks centre Rudi Keil restored the hosts’ advantage in an entertaining opening stanza.

All Black fullback Ben Blair and Macleod traded penalties, as Sale enjoyed a slight 11-10 lead going into the break.

acleod was on song with his penalty kicking and landed two unanswered attempts, for a 17-13 lead 13 minutes into the second-half.

Final Score Sale 17 Cardiff Blues 18

Scorers

Sale Sharks
Tries – Keil
Pen – Macleod 4

Cardiff Blues
Tries – Halfpenny, Mustoe
Con – Blair
Pen – Blair, Sweeney

Teams

Sale Sharks: 15 Nick MacLeod, 14 Selorm Kuadey, 13 Rudi Keil, 12 Andy Tuilagi, 11 Oriol Ripol, 10 Richard Wigglesworth, 9 Chris Leck, 8 Carl Fearns, 7 David Tait, 6 Jason White (c), 5 Brent Cockbain, 4 Chris Jones, 3 Martin Halsall, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Lionel Faure.

Replacements: 16 Rob O’Donnell, 17 Ross Davies, 18 James Gaskell, 19 Alex Shaw, 20 Johnny Kennedy, 21 Nick Royle, 22 Will Cliff.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Gareth Thomas, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Mark Lewis, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Andy Powell, 5 Paul Tito (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Taufa’ao Filise, 2 T. Rhys Thomas, 1 John Yapp.