Late Bristol try shock Sale
MATCH REPORT: A late try from Semi Radradra saw Bristol Bears pick up a 10-9 victory at AJ Bell Stadium in the first leg of their Champions Cup Round of 16 clash with Sale Sharks.
In a scrappy game, EPCR European Player of the Year Radradra came off the bench to provide the moment of quality to see Bristol take a one-point advantage into next week’s second leg.
Sale got the first points on the board through a Robert du Preez penalty in four minutes, and the South African flyhalf doubled their advantage with another effort from the tee five minutes later.
Neither side was able to find their attacking rhythm over the first half an hour, with several opportunities going begging for Bristol amid aggressive Sale defence, though flyhalf Callum Sheedy was able to half the deficit with a penalty on 25 minutes.
With errors and ill-discipline disrupting the contest, there was little try line action as Sale went into the break 6-3 up, and the theme continued in the early stages of the second half.
Sale opted to kick for the posts from a penalty just inside the Bristol half with an hour played, but du Preez’s effort drifted well wide.
A try would finally come with just under 10 minutes to play, with centre Radradra bursting through midfield and stepping the last man to put Bristol in front, Sheedy’s conversion extending their lead to four points.
That margin was reduced to a single point on 77 minutes as du Preez kicked his third penalty of the game, but Bristol held on to take a slender lead into next week’s second leg at Ashton Gate.
The scorers:
For Sale Sharks:
Pens: R Du Preez 3
For Bristol Bears”
Try: Radradra
Con: Sheedy
Pen: Sheedy
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Luke James, 14 Jack Metcalf, 13 Sam James, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Aaron Reed, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Jono Ross (captain), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Jacobus Wiese, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Matthew Postlethwaite, 20 Tommy Taylor, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Simon Hammersley
Bristol Bears: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Jack Bates, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Sam Jeffries, 6 Chris Vui, 5 Joe Joyce (captain), 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 John Afoa, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Fitz Harding, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Semi Radradra, 23 Charles Piutau
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Thomas Charabas (France) & Jonathan Dufort (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)
Source: @ChampionsCup
*Photo credit: @SaleSharks
