Bok helps Sale edge Saints

PREMIERSHIP WRAP: A Rohan Janse van Rensburg try helped Sale Sharks secure a narrow 22-21 win over Northampton Saints on Saturday.

The Sale Sharks centre picked up a loose ball and charged in for what proved to be a vital try 20 minutes from time.

AJ MacGinty added the conversion to put Sale a point up and they then put up the barricades under plenty of pressure late on to secure the win.

It was Sale’s fourth successive Premiership success and they are now on the coattails of the top four.

Northampton had gone into the game a point ahead of the Sharks in the league standings, but their play-off hopes have taken a hit following back-to-back defeats.

MacGinty had put Sale ahead inside the opening three minutes, slotting a penalty won at the very first scrum of the game.

Northampton were soon further behind as Rory Hutchinson, playing at full-back rather than his usual role at centre, was beaten to the ball in the air by Arron Reed, who sprinted in from close to halfway.

MacGinty added the extras, but Sale were hit by an immediate riposte from Saints as the home pack helped Juarno Augustus go over from a lineout drive.

George Furbank converted well and the gap was back to three points.

But Sale soon hit back, using a five-metre scrum to set up a move that eventually ended with the ball being flicked into the path of Sam James, who scored.

MacGinty missed the conversion to leave the gap at eight points before referee Tom Foley was forced off with an injury, bringing Matthew Carley into the action.

Northampton soon had an injury of their own as Teimana Harrison had to go off, but his replacement, Alex Coles, was able to have an immediate impact.

Coles powered over after a lengthy spell of Saints pressure and Furbank converted to cut the gap to a single point.

Sale had a chance to get their breathing space back just before the break, but the Saints repelled their surge and ensured the game remained very much in the balance.

Northampton came out of the blocks the quickest in the second half as Matt Proctor, Ollie Sleightholme and Courtnall Skosan combined to send Alex Mitchell over.

Furbank converted and the Saints had the lead for the first time in the game.

But Northampton were struggling to keep hold of the ball in the opposition half and Sale made them pay.

James put up a high ball that the hosts couldn’t gather and the ball bounced to Van Rensburg, who charged in for the score.

MacGinty converted to put the Sharks a point up, but Northampton kept going right until the end, winning a penalty that gave them hope of a dramatic win.

But Furbank couldn’t quite make it as the wind whistled around, ensuring Sale would complete the league double over Saints.

Saturday’s scores and scorers are below …

Bath 20-24 Leicester Tigers

The scorers:

For Bath
Tries: Muir, Ojomoh, Bayliss
Con: Bailey
Pen: Bailey

For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Wiese, Wigglesworth, Burns
Cons: Burns 3
Pen: Hegarty

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Will Butt, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Jaco Coetzee, 6 Taulupe Faletau, 5 Ewan Richards, 4 Josh McNally (captain), 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Valeriy Morozov
Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Kieran Verden, 19 Richard de Carpentier, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Max Clark

Leicester: 15 Bryce Hegarty, 14 Harry Potter, 13 Guy Porter, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Richard Wigglesworth (captain), 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 George Martin, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 Francois van Wyk
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Calum Green, 20 Hanro Liebenberg, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Matt Scott, 23 Chris Ashton

Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Harlequins 29-24 Wasps

The scorers:

For Harlequins:
Tries: Beard, Jones, Murley, Esterhuizen, Lynagh
Cons: Edwards 2

For Wasps:
Tries: Willis, Spink, Toomaga-Allen
Cons: Umaga, Gopperth 2
Pen: Umaga

Teams:

Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Oscar Beard, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Will Edwards, 9 Danny Care, 8 Archie White, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Stephan Lewies (captain), 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Simon Kerrod, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Tom Lawday, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Lewis Gjaltema, 22 Tommy Allan, 23 Louis Lynagh

Wasps: 15 Jacob Umaga, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 13 Sam Spink, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Dan Robson (captain), 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Morris, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 James Gaskell, 3 Biyi Alo, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 19 Nizaam Carr, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Will Porter, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Marcus Watson

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Alex Thomas, John Meredith
TMO: David Rose

London Irish 32-30 Saracens

For London Irish:
Tries: Van Rensburg 2, Coleman, Hassell-Collins
Cons: Jackson 3
Pens: Jackson 2

For Saracens:
Tries: Woolstencroft, Segun, Tompkins
Cons: Lozowski 3
Pens: Lozowski 3

London Irish: 15 James Stokes, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Benhard van Rensburg, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps (captain), 8 Sean O’Brien, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
Replacements: 16 Matt Cornish, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 George Nott, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Ben White, 22 Terrence Hepetema, 23 Lucio Cinti

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Rotimi Segun, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Dom Morris, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Manu Vunipola, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Tom Woolstencroft, 1 Mako Vunipola (captain)
Replacements: 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Andy Christie, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Sean Maitland

Referee: Hamish Smales
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Dean Richards
TMO: Wayne Barnes

Northampton Saints 21-22 Sale Sharks

The scorers:

For Northampton Saints
Tries: Augustus, Coles, Mitchell
Cons: Furbank 3

For Sale Sharks
Tries: Reed, S James, Van Rensburg
Cons: MacGinty 2
Pen: MacGinty

Teams

Northampton Saints: 15 Rory Hutchinson, 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Fraser Dingwall (captain), 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 George Furbank, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Karl Wilkins, 5 Brandon Nansen, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Alex Coles, 21 Frank Lomani, 22 James Grayson, 23 Piers Francis

Sale Sharks: 15 Sam James, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Robert du Preez, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Arron Reed, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Raffi Quirke, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jono Ross (captain), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Jean-Pierre du Preez, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Dom Barrow, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Conor Doherty, 23 Byron McGuigan

Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley, George Selwood
TMO: Anthony Woodthorpe

PA & Rugbypass