Du Preez's boot punish ill-discipline Bristol
MATCH REPORT: Rob Du Preez booted Sale Sharks to a crucial 27-10 victory over Bristol Bears at the AJ Bell Stadium as they continued their climb up the Premiership Rugby table.
The 25-year-old kicked five penalties and a conversion in addition to tries from Denny Solomona and Will Cliff to secure a 27-10 triumph, which meant the home side leapfrogged the Bears.
Pat Lam’s side grabbed a consolation try through Steven Luatua, converted by Callum Sheedy, but it was not enough to get the West Country outfit a losing bonus point.
Sharks, who welcomed back skipper Jono Ross after their Challenge Cup defeat to Bordeaux, were two points behind the visitors going into the game in the congested bottom half of the table.
And Bristol got off to a perfect start when a Sale infringement at the ruck allowed Ian Madigan to give the visitors the lead from the tee after three minutes.
The Irish international fly-half had a chance to double his side’s advantage moments later when Sharks were caught offside, but his kick from 45 metres hit the base of the post.
A yellow card for George Smith for a dangerous tackle saw the momentum change on 13 minutes, though, with Du Preez converting his first penalty of the afternoon soon after.
Sam James then produced a moment of magic for the game’s opening try, breaking down the wing and kicking the ball ahead before regathering, with Sale recycling the ball for Solomona to power over.
Du Preez was unable to add the extras, but another penalty on the half-hour mark extended the lead for the hosts as they continued to pile pressure on the Bears.
A further penalty from Du Preez saw Sale go into the break with a 14-3 advantage and it almost got worse for Bristol after the restart as Steve Diamond’s men came close to scoring their second try.
Sharks kept the scoreboard ticking over with a fourth Du Preez penalty, before kicking his fifth on the hour mark to increase the gap to 20-3 with just 20 minutes left on the clock.
However, Bristol made it interesting in the last ten minutes when Luatua went over for the opening try for the visitors, but Sale responded with their second try to seal the points.
Former Bristol scrum-half Will Cliff capitalised on an error from his old side to scramble over the whitewash and kill off any hopes the visitors had of a comeback, with Du Preez converting.
The scorers:
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Solomona, Cliff
Con: R Du Preez
Pens: R Du Preez 5
For Bristol Bears:
Try: Luatua
Con: Sheedy
Pen: Madigan
Yellow card: George Smith (Bristol Bears, 13)
Sale Sharks: 15 Chris Ashton, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 James O’Connor, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Jono Ross (captain), 5 James Phillips, 4 Josh Beaumont, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Bryn Evans, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Luke James, 23 Ben Curry
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Will Hurrell, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Ian Madigan 9 Harry Randall, 8 Jack Lam, 7 George Smith, 6 Steve Luatua, 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Chris Vui, 3 John Afoa, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Lewis Thiede, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Piers O’Conor
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal & Wayne Falla.
TMO: Trevor Fisher.
@Premrugby
A great win for #YourSharks today. Commiserations to our friends @BristolBears but just look what it means to these boys! #SharksByName #SharksByNature pic.twitter.com/ztSetKcU1o
— Sale Sharks🦈 (@SaleSharksRugby) December 22, 2018
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