Sale Sharks narrow victors as they edge out Bath in a dramatic ending

Sale Sharks survived a late scare to defeat Bath Rugby 20-19 at the AJ Bell Stadium in Round One of the Gallagher Premiership.

Kieran Wilkinson’s 79th-minute penalty proved to be enough for the Sharks to get the new season off to winning ways, although they were let off when Orlando Bailey missed the chance to clinch victory for Bath with the last kick of the game.

Alex Sanderson’s side struggled to get going in the opening quarter of an hour, and when opportunities came around to punish an ill-judged Bath, Sale were unable to take advantage.

The presence of Manu Tuilagi and Raffi Quirke caused Bath issues, and it was their link-up that almost set up Marland Yarde for an early opening try. However, the final pass from Rob du Preez had too much on it and the ball fizzed into touch.

The South African did though make up for his mistake with a perfectly executed kick to put Sale into the lead after 23 minutes.

Sharks extended their lead on the half-hour mark when Akker van der Merwe crashed over off the back of an unstoppable driving maul which came after Bath were penalised once again in the scrum.

The Blue, Black and Whites barely had time to react before the hosts crossed for a second try which this time was created from a well-worked attacking move orchestrated by Quirke.

The young scrum-half started the move off with a weaving run into the 22 before his expertly timed offload fell into the hands of Byron McGuigan who side-stepped his way over for his first try of the campaign. Du Preez made no mistake with the conversions to give Sale a 17-0 lead.

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As the half progressed, the visitors, who had rarely been inside Sharks’ 22, started to grow into the game. In their first real attack, Bath almost managed to pull a try back a minute before the interval.

A series of carries through the middle took Bath metres out, and despite two last-ditch tackles to keep the visitors out, the Sharks were forced into conceding the penalty on their try line and as a result of the offence, Simon Hammersley was shown yellow for not releasing.

From the resulting penalty, former Shark Danny Cipriani made no mistake in scoring his first points for Bath from the tee, to send the teams into half-time with the scoreline at 17-3.

Bath needed to improve significantly if they were to leave the AJ Bell with any points, and they continued their comeback within minutes of the restart when Cipriani added another set of three points.

Sharks’ sluggish start to the second half continued and they were made to pay when the West Country outfit scored their first try courtesy of substitute Juan Schoeman after 53 minutes.

Bath worked their way to within five metres out before the loosehead prop was able to sneak the ball in against the posts. After a quick TMO review to confirm the try, Orlando Bailey, who had just come on to replace an injured Cipriani, added the extras to reduce Sharks’ lead to four points.

The hosts hadn’t got going after the restart and they found their lead reduced to a single point when Bailey slotted his second kick of the match, although out of nothing, Sale went inches from scoring their third try of the match.

Rob du Preez turned on the burners to burst into the 22 before dummying his way into space as the South African charged through to the try line. However, as the fly-half dived over, he lost control of the ball and Sale were denied a try.

As the game neared its conclusion, both sides started to become ill-judged and as a result, the penalty count rose. With five minutes remaining, Sharks were penalised inside their 22 after a strong carry from England international Sam Underhill caused danger.

Bailey was able to kick the penalty to give the visitors the lead for the first time in the match, after looking dead and buried at half-time.

From the restart, Sharks regained possession inside the Bath half and they immediately put the visitors under pressure from Yarde’s break down the wing. Stuart Hooper’s side were only able to survive a few extra phases before they conceded a penalty in front of the posts.

Wilkinson, who had come on to replace du Preez, overcame the pressure to send the ball through the posts and into the Sale supporters who were 57 seconds away from seeing their side win an eighth straight match at the AJ Bell.

However, the drama wasn’t finished as the hosts were pinged immediately after the restart by referee Christophe Ridley. Bailey stepped up to win Bath the game, but his effort dropped short of the posts allowing Sharks to kick into touch to claim victory.

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