Sharks makes strong statement in Christmas thriller'

FRIDAY WRAP: Premiership leaders Sale Sharks showed their title credentials as they edged out fellow high-fliers Saracens 22-20 in a Christmas thriller.

It is now 12 home league victories on the spin for the Sharks, who notched three tries in difficult conditions to go clear at the summit.

Ahead of a repeat of last season’s Premiership Final, both teams went into this packed-out Salford Stadium clash on the back of a pair of mixed results in the Champions Cup.

There were a number of handling errors early on as both teams sought to get to grips with the swirling wind.

However, Mark McCall’s Sarries, who got the better of Connacht last time out in Europe, were first on the board as Owen Farrell kicked a routine close-range penalty after Sharks lost out at a scrum.

The hosts, beaten 37-28 by Leinster last weekend, responded with some vigour, and in the 18th minute, they bagged themselves a classic pushover try.

Argentinian Agustin Creevy barged over following a successful maul, with George Ford’s conversion making it 7-3.

By the time the game entered its second quarter Sale were starting to hold sway, though a break from either side always looked on the cards.

Saracens withheld some big pressure from the hosts, but with the final action of the first half they were presented with a gift to send them in at the break ahead.

Ivan van Zyl easily intercepted a shocking Gus Warr pass and darted unopposed to touch down under the posts.

Farrell’s boot handed the visitors a 10-7 interval advantage.

However, Sale needed only four minutes of the second period to re-take the lead.

The backs shifted the ball wide to Tom Roebuck, and he dived over ahead of an unsuccessful, wind-affected extras attempt by Ford.

This intriguing clash was there for either side to take, and Sale scored again before 50 minutes were up.

Replacement Luke Cowan-Dickie powered over after the hosts won a line-out, with Ford this time successful off a post as his kick stretched the lead to 19-10.

A Sale offside handed Farrell a simple kick to reduce the arrears to six points, but Alex Sanderson’s Sharks stuck at their task and soon got the three points back through Ford.

When Gareth Simpson scored and Farrell converted expertly to bring the score back to 22-20, though, tension among the home support increased again with still 10 minutes left.

* In the other Friday match Bristol made it back-to-back Premiership wins after producing a gritty away display to beat winless Newcastle 21-13 at Kingston Park.

An early try from hooker Harry Thacker preceded Louie Johnson’s penalty in first-half stoppage time to hand the Bears a 7-3 advantage at the break.

Rory Jennings’ superb kick reduced the deficit to a single point but there was no comeback on the cards despite relentless pressure on a heroic visiting backline.

Virimi Vakatawa ended all home hope with an excellent try, with Gabriel Oghre getting another late one to lift them above Leicester in the table – Kiran McDonald’s late try for the Falcons proving only a minor blemish.

Friday’s scorers and scorers

Sale Sharks 22-20 Saracens

The scorers

For Sale Sharks
Tries: Creevy, Roebuck, Cowan-Dickie
Cons: Ford 2
Pen: Ford

For Saracens
Tries: Van Zyl, Simpson
Cons: Farrell 2
Pens: Farrell 2

Teams

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (captain), 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Ross Harrison.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Sam James, 23 Sam Bedlow..

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Andy Christie, 6 Juan-Martin Gonzalez, 5 Theo McFarland, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Alec Clarey, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Tom West, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Toby Knight, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Tom Parton, 23 Alex Lewington.

Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Hamish Grant, John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson

Newcastle Falcons 13-21 Bristol Bears

The scorers

For Newcastle Falcons
Try: McDonald
Con: Jennings
Pens: Johnson, Jenning

For Bristol
Tries: Thacker, Vakatawa, Oghre
Cons: Sheedy 3

Newcastle: 15 Tom Penny, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Oliver Spencer, 12 Jordan Holgate, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Louie Johnson, 9 James Elliott, 8 Callum Chick (captain), 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Sam Cross, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 John Hawkins, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Phil Brantingham
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 George Wacokecoke

Bristol: 15 Max Malins, 14 Gabriel Ibitoye, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Rich Lane, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Fitz Harding (captain), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Joe Batley, 4 James Dun, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 George Kloska 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 James Williams, 23 Noah Heward

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Jonathan Cook, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Rowan Kitt