Sale dismantle Leicester to close gap on Saracens

Sale's victory was their eighth in 11 Premiership games this season

Sale Sharks reduced the gap on leaders Saracens to five points as they thrashed reigning champions Leicester Tigers at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Tom O'Flaherty, Simon McIntyre, Ewan Ashman, Rob du Preez all crossed, along with a penalty try as they did the double over Leicester.

It was a first loss for the Tigers under interim head coach Richard Wigglesworth, with just a Handre Pollard try to show for a difficult evening.

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Since Sale beat Leicester to become champions in 2006, they have only reached the play-offs once.

But they have made big strides since Alex Sanderson took up the director of rugby role in January 2021 as he tries to turn them into a Premiership force once again.

The victory leaves them well placed for a top-two finish and a possible home semi-final for the chance to reach Twickenham for the first time in 17 years.

As for Leicester, they are now 10 points behind Sale and will have to do it the hard way if they are to retain their crown following the departure of Steve Borthwick to take up the head coach's position with England.

In front of a crowd of 9,491, the highest at the AJ Bell Stadium this season, Sale showed why they have the meanest defence in the Premiership as they repelled early Tigers pressure deep within their own half.

Leicester were awarded a number of penalties, but despite being able to call on the boot of South Africa World Cup winner Pollard, who kicked 20 points as the Springboks defeated England in the 2019 World Cup final in Yokohama, they opted to kick to the corner in search of a try but ultimately to no avail.

And when Sale got into opposing territory, they had little hesitation in asking Rob du Preez to kick a hat-trick of penalties to get the scoreboard moving.

Rob du Preez contributed 18 points in the game for Sale Sharks

They extended that lead further thanks to a slick handling move across the backs featuring full-back Luke James and Arron Reed ended with Reed's opposite wing O'Flaherty touching down.

Reed thought he had put the game out of Leicester's reach at the end of the half but after a long deliberation by the TMO, it was deemed that he had knocked on rather than added a second try.

The home side looked the more threatening at the start of the second half, but a loose pass by Du Preez allowed Pollard to run in an interception for his first Premiership try on his first start.

Yet there was a gasp of disbelief when the fly-half sliced his conversion way off target from his only effort from the tee.

Any hopes of a comeback were short-lived as a typical Manu Tuilagi burst opened a hole in the visitors' defence and the resulting pressure saw prop McIntyre claim the try.

A penalty try saw the advantage grow further and with Leicester replacement Sean Jansen shown a yellow card, the bonus point was inevitable.

Replacement hooker Ewan Ashman delivered it and there was still time for Du Preez to run in a fifth try.

Former England scrum half Joe Simpson, on his final appearance before retirement, failed to add the champagne moment by missing the conversion, but it did not dampen the mood of excitement building among Sharks supporters.

Sale Sharks: L James; Reed, S James, Tuilagi, O'Flaherty; R du Preez, Warr; McIntyre, Van der Merwe, Schonert, Wiese, Hill, T Curry, B Curry (capt), JL du Preez.

Replacements: Ashman, Harrison, Harper, Beuamont, Ross, Simpson, Curtis, McGuigan.

Leicester Tigers: Steward; Watson, Porter, Kelly, Potter; Pollard, van Poortvliet; Whitcombe, Clare, Cole, Wells, Chessum, Liebenberg (capt), Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Oghre, Leatigaga, Heyes, Green, Jansen, Youngs, Burns, Ashton.

Referee: Matthew Carley.

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