Boks help Sale see off Saints
PREMIERSHIP FRIDAY WRAP: Sale Sharks started their 2020/2021 Premiership campaign with a 32-23 win over Northampton Saints at the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday.
Springboks Akker van der Merwe and Daniel du Preez scored the first two tries of the game to help give Sale a 17-7 lead at the break.
Simon Hammersley an AJ MacGinty were Sale’s try-scorers in the second half which put them on course for victory. MacGinty also added nine points with the boot, while Robert du Preez added three points with a late penalty
The Saints’ points came via tries from Tom Collins and Piers Francis with James Grayson scoring 10 points with the boot. Harry Mallinder also contributed three points with a penalty.
In Friday’s other game, defending champions Exeter Chiefs thumped Harlequins 33-3 in London.
No.8 Sam Simmonds scored three of his team’s five tries in what was a powerful performance from the visitors.
Sale Sharks 32-23 Northampton Saints
The scorers:
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Van der Merwe, D du Preez, Hammersley, MacGinty
Cons: MacGinty 3
Pens: MacGinty, R du Preez
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Collins, Francis
Cons: Grayson 2
Pens: Grayson 2, Mallinder
Teams:
Sale: 15 Luke James, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Simon Hammersley, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (captain) 5 Jean-Luc du Preez, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Valery Morozov.
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Phillips, 20 Matt Postlethwaite, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Rob du Preez, 23 Marland Yarde.
Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 Ahsee Tuala, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tom Collins, 10 James Grayson, 9 Henry Taylor, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Paul Hill, 2 James Fish, 1 Alex Waller (captain).
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Owen Franks, 19 David Ribbans, 20 JJ Tonks, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Fraser Dingwall, 23 Harry Mallinder.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales, Wayne Falla
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Harlequins 3-33 Exeter Chiefs
The scorers:
For Harlequins:
Pen: Smith
For Exeter Chiefs:
Tries: S Simmonds 3, Ewers, Townsend
Cons: J Simmonds 4
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Will Evans, 6 Tom Lawday, 5 Stephan Lewies (captain), 4 Matt Symons, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta.
Replacements: 16 Jack Musk, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Glen Young, 20 Archie White, 21 Jack Stafford, 22 Ben Tapuai, 23 Tyrone Green.
Exeter: 15 Facundo Cordero, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Don Armand, 4 Will Witty, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Tom Price, 20 Richard Capstick, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Tom Hendrickson.
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Jamie Leahy, Paul Dix
TMO: Geoff Warren
