by Sale Sharks 14 Bristol Bears 22
A new year and new hope for Bristol, who produced an exciting high-speed display to end Sale’s 12-match Gallagher Premiership winning streak on home soil.
Pat Lam’s men arrived in Salford after enduring an inconsistent campaign, but this was a performance and a victory to savor.
Attacking and defending assiduously, striker Harry Randall, wing Gabriel Ibitoye and fullback Max Malins showed.
Malins were superb in defense and attack, making a save to deny Joe Carpenter a certain first-half try before getting on the scoresheet himself with a crucial goal two minutes after the interval.
Lam, Bristol’s winning director of rugby, said: “Max made some great saves but I thought our back three were excellent with Noah Heward and Ibitoye.
“This is probably the hardest place to come and to be the first team to win here in a long time is massive. We knew we had to have a very strong Sale team – and we did.”
You had to go back 14 months to the last time Sale lost a Premiership game on this ground, and director of rugby Alex Sanderson could not hide his anger.
Sale often lacked a clinical advantage whenever they entered Bristol territory and Sanderson was almost beside himself afterwards.
He said: “We were inconsistent in tackles, sloppy in control and didn’t take our chances. We need to be more accurate going forward – and we will. I’m not worried about it [losing] our home record. I just want a consistent performance week in and week out – and we didn’t get that today.
“We have to be a lot better if we want to win this thing. We had eight visits (out of 22) and we only converted a few. We need to come away with a conversion rate of at least 50%. That’s the area we need to improve.”
Bristol were energized from the outside and it was no surprise when they opened the scoring in the seventh minute after Randall scampered under the posts from close range.
Former Sale striker AJ MacGinty added the conversion and that early advantage gave Bristol confidence.
Gradually the sale stood on their own, they got down to business and made a promising move in the 16th minute.
Carpenter, a fierce competitor and willing runner, supported an attack and drove into the heart of Bristol’s 22-metre line.
His progress was halted, but he indicated that the possibilities of a Sale could be offered.
Two minutes later, however, and Bristol were awarded their second try, with Gus Warr’s kick inside the left channel charged down by Josh Caulfield’s lock.
Ibitoye collected possession and showed great pace and strength to hare past Carpenter and score in the corner before celebrating with gusto.
It was the classic scam to Bristol – keep calm under pressure and then strike the enemy when they least expect it.
MacGinty’s second conversion made it 14-0 and in the 31st minute it was Sale finally when Jonny Hill cut down Randall’s kick and headed over the line, with Rob Du Preez’s conversion reducing Bristol’s lead to half. .
But the visitors were a constant threat with Malins progressing from behind at every opportunity.
Sale thought they had a second try as the interval approached when Carpenter showed excellent pace to scarper over in the right corner, only to divert his foot into touch with Malins.
It was an exquisite piece of defensive work and the tension between the two teams as they went down the tunnel at half-time.
Bristol, however, kept their heads and had their third try shortly after the interval.
The Bears worked the ball across the face of Sale’s defense inside the 22-metre line, culminating in a deft Dan Thomas offload taking Malins into the left corner.
The first try of the second half was always going to be crucial and it went to Bristol which set the stage for a famous away win.
Sale came back strongly as the second half unfolded, enjoying long spells of hitting the Bristol line.
With 12 minutes remaining, the pressure finally told as substitute keeper Agustin Creevy barreled over inside the left channel and Du Preez converted.
But Sale’s desperation to salvage the game hurt in the last 10 minutes when Telusa Veainu and Ben Bamber were sent off in the box for dangerous challenges early on and MacGinty kicked a penalty to seal a landmark victory for Bristol and his old club.
