| Exeter Chiefs (21) 24 |
| Tries: Williams, Hodge 2 Cons: Skinner 3 Pens: Skinner |
| Sale Sharks (10) 22 |
| Tries: Roebuck, Ashman, Dugdale Cons: R du Preez 2 Pen: R du Preez |
Josh Hodge’s two first-half tries helped Exeter beat Sale in a thrilling Premiership encounter at Sandy Park.
Tom Roebuck’s outstanding solo try put Sale 10-0 up, but Harry Williams and Hodge’s two excellent scores with Sharks down to 13 men put Exeter ahead.
Ewan Ashman’s try cut the gap as Sale started the second half well.
They continued to up the pressure and took the lead with 13 minutes to go through Sam Dugdale, before Harvey Skinner’s penalty won it for Exeter.
The victory moves Exeter up to fifth place in the Premiership, a point off fourth-placed Gloucester with a game in hand, while Sale remain second and 11 points behind Saracens after earning a losing bonus point.
Having weathered an early wave of Exeter pressure, Sale began to assert themselves and Rob du Preez converted a penalty after Harvey Skinner was sin-binned for a high tackle.
Roebuck then picked up the ball on halfway and carved his way through the short-handed home defence with ease for Sale’s first touchdown.
But with 15 men back on the pitch, Exeter’s attack clicked into gear, and after a wave of pressure on the Sale line, Williams was forced over as the Sharks had Sam Dugdale sin-binned during the build-up.
The visitors went down to what would prove to be a game-changing 13 men when Bevan Rodd saw yellow for killing the ball after an excellent break by Hodge – although Sharks should have pulled further ahead when Tom O’Flaherty knocked on as he bore down on Chiefs’ line after a handling error in midfield.
Hodge’s superb open-field running against an outnumbered defence proved to be Sale’s undoing as they could not find the manpower to cover the full-back as nine phases ended with a three-pass move to the 22-year-old as he gave Exeter a 33rd-minute lead.
The former England Under-20s player added his second try by slaloming in from 35 metres two minutes later.
Sale upped their game after the break as they took command of territory and possession and they were rewarded 10 minutes in when Ashman went over after Dugdale’s good break set up the field position.
Left out by England, fly-half George Ford started to become more influential and one cross-field kick needed a superb interception by Olly Woodburn to stop an almost-certain try, while Raffi Quirke almost converted from a second with 17 minutes left as they continued to pile pressure on a tiring home defence.
Sale broke through four minutes later as Dugdale went over a couple of phases after a quick tap penalty, but Skinner put Exeter two points up with a penalty shortly after.
Chiefs thought they might have clinched it when Olly Woodburn went over in the left corner, but replays showed he put a foot in touch under pressure from a Sale defender.
Sale’s defence was again superb a few minutes later as they repelled 15 phases of pressure on their own try-line before forcing a knock on – but they could not gain the ground they needed and Exeter held on for an impressive win that was greeted by a rapturous home crowd.
Exeter Chiefs: Hodge; Nowell (capt), Whitten, Kata, Woodburn; Skinner, S Maunder; Sio, Innard, Williams, Kirsten, Dunne, Ewers, Vermeulen, S Simmonds.
Replacements: Yeandle, Southworth, Schickerling, Williams, Davis, J Maunder, J Simmonds, Hendrickson.
Sale Sharks: Carpenter; Roebuck, R du Preez, Mills, O’Flaherty; Ford, Warr; Rodd, Ashman, Oosthuizen, Wiese, Hill, Ross (capt), Dugdale, J-L du Preez.
Replacements: Caine, McIntyre, Jones, Groves, Beaumont, Quirke, S James, Reed.
Referee: Luke Pearce.
