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Bath went on to score 19 points in the second half, running the Sharks close in a nail-biting finish in Manchester. A last-minute penalty from Kieran Wilkinson secured a dramatic first victory of the season for the Sharks in front of the Sale faithful.

With Faf de Klerk away on international duty, Sale fielded 20-year-old scrum Raffi Quirke at scrum-half and he made the difference in a dominant first half for the hosts.

Having exploited a gap in the Bath defence, he offloaded to send McGuigan through for Sale’s second score of the game.

The only blip on an impressive first half for Sale was Simon Hammersley being sent to the sin-bin just before half-time for not releasing on the try line, which led to Cipriani’s opening points for Bath.

Cipriani made his Bath debut against his former side as they travelled to last season’s Premiership semi-finalists without Anthony Watson and Taulupe Faletau, who were still absent due to being away with the British and Irish Lions over the summer.

Bath made a creditable comeback after the break, with Bailey’s crucial kicks giving them hope of snatching victory with just five minutes remaining.

But Wilkinson’s decisive intervention came soon after the restart as Sale won a penalty inside Bath’s 22, leaving the 21-year-old to kick them to victory.

Sale: Hammersley, McGuigan, James, Tuilagi, Yarde, R Du Preez, Quirke; Rodd, Van der Merwe, Schonert, Wiese, J Du Preez, Neild, B Curry, Ross (c).

Replacements: Taylor, Harrison, Ford, Birch, Dugdale, Cliff, Wilkinson, Janse van Rensburg.

Bath: De Glanville, Rokoduguni, Joseph, Ojomoh, Muir, Cipriani, Spencer; Obano, Dunn, Jonker, Williams, Ewels (c), Reid, Underhill, Bayliss.

Replacements: Du Toit, Schoeman, Rae, Ellis, Coetzee, Fox, Bailey, Clark.