Pollock scores a stunner but spirited Saints are edged out by Sharks

Pollock was a threat to the Sharks throughout the game, and he delivered surely one of the finest scores a forward has ever produced in the Gallagher Premiership.

Pollock picked the ball up close to halfway and then flew away before chipping ahead and gathering to dive over the line, earning congratulations from all of his delighted team-mates.

That try had brought Saints level at 17-17 as they fought back from going 12 points behind, but Sale upped the physicality levels and moved in front again with their bonus-point try.

George Ford added a penalty before a fine finish from Fraser Dingwall bagged Saints a try bonus point of their own.

But one final attack fell agonisingly short as Sale won a breakdown penalty with the clock in the red to make sure of the win.

It meant Saints took two points home but their miserable record at the Salford Community Stadium continued as they have still not won at the ground in the league since March 2017.

It was always going to be a tough task for a Saints team without a recognised fly-half as Tom James started there for the first time in his career.

Sale had won eight of their previous nine home games in the Premiership, while Saints had not won on the road in the league this season.

So the mission was clear for Phil Dowson's men, who were desperate to bounce back from the previous Friday's 33-0 home humbling against local rivals Leicester Tigers.

Saints had to stand tall against some early pressure from a Sale lineout inside the 22, but stand tall they did, winning the turnover and celebrating the referee's call.

Saints forced a knock-on soon after before winning a scrum penalty, giving them a chance to at least venture towards halfway, but Sale soon stopped them in their tracks.

And the Sharks showed their bite as they worked the ball superbly for traditional Saints nemesis Tom O'Flaherty to provide a tidy finish out wide.

George Ford missed the conversion but Saints were reduced to 14 men as James was sin-binned for a head-on-head collision with Tom Roebuck that came in the build-up to the Sale score.

Saints were soon down to 13 men as Tommy Freeman's pass went loose and as Sale tried to counter, Freeman was harshly penalised for a deliberate knock-on, meaning he joined James in the sin bin.

Sale wasted little time in making their numerical advantage count as O'Flaherty sent a kick wide left and Tom Curry made the most of a kind bounce as he offloaded inside for the onrushing Roebuck to score.

Ford converted and Saints were 12-0 down, but they quickly responded with a try out of nothing as Dingwall took a quick tap penalty, Pollock led the charge and then offloaded superbly for Alex Coles, who sent the ball wide for Manny Iyogun to score.

Alex Mitchell took on kicking duties and missed, but James then returned to the field to at least bring Saints back to 14.

It mattered not though as Sale scored again, cutting Saints open as Joe Carpenter ran a nice line before Roebuck picked up the pass to dive over for his second of the match.

Ford missed the conversion before Freeman came back on with a bang, running through Sale like a hot knife through butter to dot down after Saints kicked a penalty to the corner.

Mitchell converted from in front of the posts to reduce the deficit to five points with 10 minutes to go before the break.

Saints threatened to go ahead when they pieced together a flowing counter-attack, but Burger Odendaal couldn't get the ball to George Hendy to his left and Sale survived.

However, referee Hamish Smales was alerted to the collision on Odendaal, with Ford sin-binned for head-on-head with the South African centre in a similar incident to the one that saw Saints lose James earlier in the game.

Saints tried to push on and make the most of their extra man before the break, but a crossfield kick from James didn't find Hendy and Sale breathed a sigh of relief.

The Sharks won a couple of penalties to see the half out, meaning Saints were left frustrated in their pursuit to make the 14 men pay.

They still had the chance early in the second period before Ford returned, and Pollock ensured Saints would be celebrating thanks to an extraordinary try.

The England No.8 flew away from Sale like they weren't there before chipping over the final defender and gathering to score.

It was Pollock's first Premiership try and there was disbelief among his team-mates as they mobbed him.

Mitchel missed the conversion to leave the scores level, but Sale were soon back in front as they won a scrum penalty and then mauled their way over the line through Bevan Rodd, who scored on his 100th appearance for Sale.

Ford, back from the bin, added the extras and his side had the try bonus point as well as a seven-point lead as the game moved into its final half an hour.

Saints were enjoying plenty of territory and possession but they couldn't find a way to click into gear against a resilient rearguard.

Sale eventually worked their way up the other end of the field and Ford slotted a penalty to extend his side's lead to 10 points with 14 minutes to go.

Saints continued to knock on under heavy pressure in the Sale half, putting a spanner in the works as they sought some much-needed attacking momentum.

Sale looked like they would put the game to bed when replacement Arron Reed pouched a loose ball just inside the Saints half, but Freeman did superbly well to produce a try-saving tap tackle.

Saints still needed to find something at the other end though, and they did that thanks to their skipper, Dingwall.

With Sale under pressure on their own line, the ball was fired out to Dingwall, who span his way over to deliver the bonus-point try for his team.

Mitchell converted and the gap was three points with four minutes to play.

Saints tried to attack from deep to somehow pull the win from the fire and they had one final crack at it after kicking a penalty to the edge of the Sale 22.

However, the home side held firm and got over the ball to bag a breakdown penalty that sealed the win.

Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter; 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez (c), 12. Sam Bedlow (Will Addison 24 (Arron Reed 71)), 11. Tom O’Flaherty; 10. George Ford 9. Gus Warr; 1. Bevan Rodd (Si McIntyre 57), 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Tadhg McElroy 73), 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (WillGriff John 57); 4. Ben Bamber, 5. Jonny Hill (Hyron Andrews 66); 6. Ernst van Rhyn, 7. Tom Curry (Sam Dugdale 66), 8. JL du Preez.  

Saints: 15. James Ramm; 14. Tommy Freeman, 13. Burger Odendaal (Tom Litchfield 75), 12. Fraser Dingwall (c), 11. George Hendy; 10. Tom James, 9. Alex Mitchell; 1. Emmanuel Iyogun (Tarek Haffar 62), 2. Curtis Langdon, 3. Trevor Davison (Luke Green 62); 4. Chunya Munga (Temo Mayanavanua 50), 5. Alex Coles; 6. Josh Kemeny, 7. Angus Scott-Young (Juarno Augustus 50), 8. Henry Pollock (Tom Pearson 65).

Referee: Hamish Smales