The Sale Sharks secured a bonus-point win over Racing Metro on Friday evening at the Salford Community Stadium in a Round 2 Investec Champions Cup.
The home crowd were treated to a tightly contested opening 20 minutes, with nothing to separate the sides until the 18th minute.
Sale made the most of a line-out in a threatening position, with the responsibility to touch down eventually falling to Jean-Luc du Preez following a balanced maul.
The English side then continued in the same vein, with Tom Roebuck finding the side’s second nearing the half-time mark. After swiftly switching the play from a scrum on the left, it was the English wing who found the space between the lines to charge through and put breathing space between the two sides on the scoreboard.
It was then Racing’s turn to show their strength after Guram Gogischashvili was the man to end a powerful move by touching down, trailing 07-12 at the halftime break.
The Sale Shark side came out for the second half determined to remain on the front foot. And that is just what they achieved within 10 minutes of the restart.
Thanks to a superb Tom Roebuck catch to intercept a threatening-looking Racing counter, he changed the momentum within an instant, charging down the wing before offloading to a supporting Joe Carpenter who had the simple task of touching down.
Determined to claim the coveted bonus point, Sale did not let off the gas. Following a benefitting from the Baudonne yellow card, Sharks out-strengthened the visitors with Ben Curry being the one to force the ball over the line for his side’s fourth of the evening.
The home side did not let this commanding lead slip at any moment either, and Robert du Preez even added a penalty to the tally in the 66’ minute.
A knock-on was the only thing that prevented the Sharks from adding a fifth try to their tally, as they secured the second spot in Pool 4 with a 29-07 Racing 92.
Scorers:
Sale Sharks: Tries: Jean-Luc du Preez, Tom Roebuck, Joe Carpenter, Ben Curry Conversions: Robert du Preez (3). Penalty: Robert du Preez.
Racing 92: Try: Guram Gogichashvil. Conversion: Nolann le Garrec.
Teams
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Robert du Preez, 12 Luke James, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ben Bamber, 3 James Harper, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd. Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 Willgriff John, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Waisea Nayacalevu Vuidravuwalu, 23 Alex Wills.
Racing 92: 15 Tristan Tedder, 14 Henry Arundell, 13 Sam James, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Max Spring, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 Nolann le Garrec, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Maxime Baudonne, 6 Cameron Woki (c), 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Junior Kpoku, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Guram Gogichashvili. Replacements: 16 Diego Escobar, 17 Lino Julien, 18 Gia Kharaishvili, 19 Fabien Sanconnie, 20 Ibrahim Diallo, 21 Clovis le Bail, 22 Antoine Gibert, 23 Wame Naituvi.