Sale keep play-off hopes alive with Leicester win

Gallagher Premiership

Sale: (21) 31

Tries: Warr, Taylor, S James, O'Flaherty Pens: Ford Cons: Ford (4)

Leicester: (15) 22

Tries: Cole, Scott, Martin Pens: Shillcock Cons: Pollard, Shillcock

Sale Sharks kept their Premiership play-off hopes alive by securing a bonus-point victory over Leicester Tigers at the Salford Community Stadium.

Tries from scrum-half Gus Warr, hooker Tommy Taylor and full-back Sam James helped put them 21-15 up at half-time.

Winger Tom O'Flaherty added a fourth try after the interval to secure all five points.

Tigers kept in touch with tries from Dan Cole and Matt Scott before George Martin scored a third after the break.

Leicester's outside play-off bid was ended by defeat against Bristol in the previous round but Sale's challenge still burns brightly.

Victory moved them third in the table and their trip to Saracens on the final day could now be a shootout for the top four.

After conceding the opening try to Cole, Manu Tuilagi, in his final home game, smashed into the Tigers defence off first phase and Warr exploited a subsequent gap to touch down.

Ben Curry then peeled off a line-out and broke up the blindside wing before passing for Taylor to score in the left corner on his 150th appearance for the club.

Scott picked off a loose pass from Warr to run in for Tigers’ second try.

But Sale scored again before half-time as Bevan Rodd’s offload sent Ben Curry away, he passed wide to O’Flaherty, whose inside ball sent James over, also on his final appearance at home.

With every point crucial in such a tight race for the top four, it took just four minutes of the second half for Sale to score a bonus-point try.

James grubbed behind the Tigers defence and it fell kindly for O’Flaherty to juggle, gather and score in the left corner.

Sale: S James, Roebuck, R du Preez, Tuilagi, O'Flaherty, Ford, Warr; Rodd, Taylor, Harper, Wiese, Andrews, B Curry, Dugdale, J-L du Preez.

Replacements: Creevy, McIntyre, John, Bamber, Van Rhyn, Quirke, Maasi-White, Reed.

Leicester: Steward, Shillcock, Scott, Kelly, Hassell-Collins, Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Van Wyk, Clare, Cole, Martin, Wells, Liebenburg, Reffell, Wiese.

Replacements: Dolly, Whitcombe, Hayes, Carnduff, Cracknell, Whiteley, Cokanasiga, Kata.

Sin-bin: Hassell-Collins (10), Clare (66).

Referee: Christophe Ridley.