Matchday Live

Sale Sharks’ Premiership season came to an end after a 21-16 semi-final defeat to Leicester Tigers denied a shot at glory at Twickenham next week.

Having registered just three first half points, Sale fought valiantly to draw level at 16-16 with 15 minutes to go but a runaway Izaia Perese try and a solid final defensive set sealed a home win.

Playing in unpredictable conditions and returning to the place where a big lead was squandered just a month ago, Sale never quite found rhythm, but the 4000 fans that travelled down can rest assured that everything was left on the pitch, Sale a collection of spent bodies by the full time whistle.

Knowing that they’d got on the wrong side of Matthew Carly, to costly effect, last time out at Welford Road, a first half penalty count of eight was an immensely frustrating start to the match. Handre Pollard knocked one of the those over in the eighth minute, only for Ford to respond ten minutes later from a scrum penalty.

That would be the extent of Sale’s attacking threat in a half marred by lineout errors and incoherent attack. Conversely, Tigers were prolific on what seemed to be an endless stream of penalty advantages, Adam Radwan stepping inside covering defenders to score the host’s first before diving at full stretch to dot down a cross-field kick magnificently for a second.

With both conversions missed, Leicester’s lead was kept to ten, a gap Sale were happy to take into half time off the back of a string of gritty defensive sets.

That didn’t provide the momentum Sale might have wanted, with sloppy handling ensuring the first 15 minutes of the second half were spent on the back foot. A Pollard penalty allowed Sale to venture into the Leicester half and they clawed themselves back into the game through a Rob du Preez try on the hour mark, a risky handling in pick and go territory without advantage paying off.

With that hard earned momentum, Sale drew level through a Ford penalty, but Leicester stormed back into a lead through Izaia Perese, the substitute centre flying through on a hard line before finishing well with his first touch of the ball.

To their credit, Leicester went about closing out the game expertly, winning aerial 50/50s and keeping the ball tight for the following ten minutes. Sale were given one last attack to overturn the five-point deficit, but tired bodies and minds couldn’t quite get over the line.