Sale emphatically demolish in-form Bristol

Gallagher Premiership

Bristol (0) 0

Tries: Cons: Pens:

Sale (20) 38

Tries: Quirke, Roebuck, B. Curry, O'Flaherty Cons: R. du Preez 3 Pens: R. du Preez 3 Drop-goal: Ford

Sale Sharks brought a resounding end to Bristol Bears' festivities with a thumping 38-0 victory on the road at Ashton Gate.

Sale centre Rob du Preez kicked 15 points as the Sharks prevented Bristol's previously in-form attack from putting any points on the board for their worst home defeat in eight years.

Raffi Quirke ghosted through a gap inside two minutes to score the opening try and set the tone, before Tom Roebuck added a second and George Ford kicked a drop goal.

Ben Curry intercepted a pass to add a third try after the half-time break before Tom O'Flaherty stylishly stole another ball deep in Bristol territory to run the length of the field for the bonus point score, and cap an impressive Sale display.

The win is the first away from home for Sale this campaign, built on an impenetrable defensive display, and sees them move up to third in the Premiership table ahead of the rest of the weekend's matches.

Bristol meanwhile fell to their worst loss at home since they were beaten 39-0 by Saracens in September 2016.

The Bears were full of confidence after thrashing Leicester in a record-breaking win at Welford Road last weekend, to remain level on points with league leaders Bath.

However, the trend of their night was arguably set before kick-off, when it was confirmed fly-half AJ MacGinty would miss the next four months with a knee injury and England prop Ellis Genge was ruled out.

Sharks number nine Quirke – on only his third start this season – showed more of the form that made England head coach Steve Borthwick a fan when he cut inside and darted through a gap to run over in the corner.

A Rob du Preez penalty pushed the Sharks to a two-score lead inside 10 minutes, as Sale's pack pinned Bristol entirely into their own half.

Bristol's attack has been fizzing this season - averaging 38 points in eight previous games - but they were out of sorts as their first chance to run at the opposition saw a long ball over the top go begging, before another from Harry Randall was thrown forward.

Sale came close to a second try but saw Luke Cowan-Dickie bundled into touch two metres out, and while the Bears players were celebrating the mood changed when Randall was sent to the bin after a check by the television match official for a cynical tackle.

The Sharks instantly added their second try as Ford spotted space on the right and sent a long pass over the top to Roebuck, and Bristol's woes worsened when top try scorer Gabriel Ibitoye went off just after half an hour looking in discomfort.

Sam Worsley, in at 10 for MacGinty, missed a drop goal, while opposite number Ford cooly nailed his own at the other end, to stretch Sale's lead to 20 points.

Traffic continued to be one-way through the second half, starting with another Rob du Preez penalty. Tom Curry then snatched an intercept as Bristol tried to play out from the back, to score under the posts.

Bristol tried to restore some pride and put something on the board, but with a penalty advantage restart metres from the Sale line a miss-pass was scooped up by O'Flaherty who ran the length of the field and, after a one-two with Quirke, dived into the corner to seal the bonus point.

While Bristol set a new record against the Tigers for a 10th consecutive win on the road last weekend, defeat against Sale is their third out of four games at home this campaign.

Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam told BBC Sport:

"Firstly, well done Sale and Alex, great performance from them. For us, obviously not a great day at the office, we missed a couple of early opportunities.

"The big thing when we play Sale is to get ahead on the scoreboard, [but we] fell behind, gave away penalties, missed opportunities, sloppiness and we just weren't a reflection of what we've been like for the year.

"We won't dwell on this too much, we spoke about it as a group, some great experience for the players, but we now move pretty quickly to Sarries away – something the Bears have never done is beat Sarries away so what a great challenge, probably couldn't have asked for a better game to move on to.

"We'll take the learnings Monday, get the review out of the way then we'll move on fast. It's like life, you get those – you get punched in the head, you get back up and you go again."

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson told BBC Sport:

"I am a bit emotional because of the significance of the performance in the mid-point of the season, where we were five weeks ago. It is Christmas and you make sacrifices.

"I said to the boys, 'everyone makes sacrifices', so you want to make it worth it and they have for me, they have made my time worth it with that effort.

"If you want to beat teams as good as Bristol or any in the upper echelon of the Premiership your set-piece is key as is your defence and you can layer things on the back of that.

"But those two things make you competitive and when you start to get a few gamebreakers in your team, Raffi Quirke was exceptional, Tom Roebuck continues to score and impress and Fordy steers the ship – that is the gamebreakers I am talking about.

"There is a glut of talent and the lads are revelling in it."

Bristol: Lane; Bates, Ravouvou, Janse van Rensburg, Ibitoye; Worsley, Randall; Woolmore, Thacker, Lahiff; Dun, Owen, Luatua, Harding (c), Mata.

Replacements: Oghre, Y. Thomas, Kloska, Hodgso, Grondona, Marmion, Williams, Elizalde.

Sin bin: Harry Randall (21 mins)

Sale: Carpenter, Roebuck, R. du Preez, James, O'Flaherty, Ford, Quirke; Rodd, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Van Rhyn, Hill, T. Curry, B. Curry (c), D. du Preez.

Replacements: Caine, McIntyre, John, Beaumont, JL. du Preez, Warr, Bedlow, Dugdale.

Sin bin: Sam Bedlow (79 mins)

Referee: Adam Leal