Saints stage superb late fightback to punish Sale sinners

Manu Tuilagi was sent off after just 14 minutes, but Sale, who had gone 5-0 up through an early Arron Reed try, shrugged that off and powered into a 24-7 half-time lead.

Saints had little to shout about during the first half, but the Sharks continued to find themselves on the wrong side of referee Ian Tempest after the break.

Cobus Wiese and Ewan Ashman were sin-binned, leaving Sale down to 13 men for 20 minutes of the second period.

And Saints, having been 34-19 down with just 17 minutes to go, delivered a huge comeback, scoring three times late on to grab a hugely important bonus-point Gallagher Premiership win.

Phil Dowson's men had looked fired up at the start as Fraser Dingwall, back from his ban, set the tone with two huge hits early on.

But after Tom Curry won a penalty at the breakdown, Saints were sucked into defending a lineout drive, leaving acres of space out wide for wing Reed to finish off after Rob Du Preez landed a crossfield kick perfectly.

Du Preez was less accurate with the conversion, leaving the gap at five points, but Sale were soon down to 14 men as Tuilagi was red carded for a blatant forearm to the head of Tommy Freeman.

Tuilagi apologised to England team-mate Freeman as he left the field, and Sale would play the final 65 minutes of the match with 14 men.

Saints lost George Furbank to an injury, with the full-back unable to put any weight on his right leg as he left the action, and Sale soon landed another blow as Curry flew through the middle to score.

Du Preez converted, and he didn't have to wait long for another chance as Saints offered little resistance defensively once more, allowing the Sale fly-half to score a try of his own.

The conversion was easily made and Sale held a 19-0 lead, with Saints having barely landed a punch in attack or defence.

The home fans were deflated but they finally had something to cheer when Freeman found a way through, setting up the onrushing Tom James for the score.

Fin Smith converted but Sale were still in charge of the game with Saints largely struggling to get out of their own half.

The hosts were rushing things, making far too many handling errors, and that was gifting possession back to Sale on a regular basis.

The Sharks thought they'd grabbed their bonus-point try but the effort was ruled out for Jono Ross obstructing Robbie Smith.

There was still time for that fourth Sale try to arrive before the break through as Ashman forced his way over following another dominant lineout drive.

Du Preez hit the right post with his conversion, but Sale were 24-7 up at half-time and the gap between the sides was looking huge.

Sale added another three points to their tally early in the second half as du Preez slotted a penalty won at the scrum.

Sale were in trouble with referee Tempest again when lock Wiese was yellow carded for a high hit on Fin Smith.

Saints took immediate advantage, working the ball well from a lineout to allow Freeman to break through and dive over.

Smith converted and Saints had their tails up.

With a penalty coming, the home side worked the ball through the hands for Matt Proctor to score on the right.

Smith sent the tricky conversion wide to leave the gap at eight points as Wiese came back on the field.

Sale soon made the most of the return to a full complement in the pack as they rumbled forward yet again from a maul, allowing Sam Dugdale to score

Du Preez converted superbly and there was a loud roar from the Sale bench as the lead hit 15 points.

Saints were soon cancelling that score out though, bagging their bonus-point as they secured a penalty try.

Ashman was sin-binned and Sale would have to play 10 of the final 14 minutes with 13 men.

Saints took advantage thanks to Tom Collins as he sped through the middle before setting up Braley, who finished in determined fashion under the posts.

And Saints were all the way back when Collins fired the ball out wide for Dingwall to dive over and delight the home fans.

There were still two minutes to survive, but Saints stood tall, drawing a huge roar as they booted the ball out and celebrated a fantastic comeback success.

Saints: Furbank (c) (Hutchinson 15); Freeman, Proctor, Dingwall, Ramm; F Smith (Collins 64), James (Braley 65); A Waller (E Waller 50), R Smith (Cruse 65), Hill (Petch 50); Ribbans, Moon; Scott-Young (Coles 64), Hinkley (Graham 52), Augustus.

Sale Sharks: Carpenter; O’Flaherty, S James (Ford 50), Tuilagi, Reed; R Du Preez, Warr (Quirke 50); Rodd (McIntyre 59), Ashman, Schonert (Oosthuizen 40); Wiese, Hill; Ross (c) (Dugdale 59), T Curry, JL Du Preez.

Referee: Ian Tempest