Points win prizes. Bristol played admirably at times, offloading with enthusiasm while mostly solid at the set piece, but Sale were far more clinical when it counted. The fact Sharks could rely on the intelligence and class of the England fly-half, George Ford – dropping goals like he was back in Marseille – did not do them any harm.
“He looked silky in attack, didn’t he? Really silky,” said Alex Sanderson, Sale’s director of rugby, of Ford’s display. “That’s part of the game we’ve been looking to grow, and part of the game he wants to prove he’s one of the best at. Not just being able to slot drop-goals from 50 metres. He can do it all, can’t he?”
Ford’s boot indirectly led to an early setback for the visitors. When they won a free-kick from a scrum, the former Leicester No 10 launched a towering spiral bomb into Bristol’s 22. The full-back Rich Lane claimed it, but was taken in the air by Ben Curry, who was sent to the sin-bin.
Gabriel Ibitoye – a late inclusion for Bristol after the full-back Max Malins’ withdrawal with illness – put boot to ball effectively with a pinpoint 50-22, and when Lane offered a sympathetic offload to Virimi Vakatawa, Josh Caulfield was sent loping in.
Callum Sheedy, the Bears fly-half, had already missed with a difficult penalty attempt from halfway, but sent the resulting conversion sailing through. Seven points, however, was all Bristol had to show for Curry’s time on the naughty step.
Sale would soon build pressure in the home 22 for the first time, leading to Arron Reed darting over. Ford missed the tricky conversion from out wide, but his calmly taken drop goal edged them in front anyway. When Kyle Sinckler was penalised at an attacking scrum, the visitors took their one-point advantage into half-time.
Another Sheedy penalty put Bristol into the lead straight after the break but it was short-lived. Reed was posing questions immediately at the other end with a sniping run, and a superb long pass by Ford then sent Sam James jogging over in the middle, the defence badly exposed. Sale led by five having again proved their ability to convert territory into points.
Luke Cowan-Dickie, the England hooker, came off the bench for his Sharks debut having been sidelined by injury since January, Agustín Creevy making way. “He’s a great person and a great player,” Sanderson said of the former Exeter front-row. “He’s a bit of a catalyst in terms of his energy. He’s infectious.”
So it proved: Sale stretched their advantage when the captain, Rob du Preez, anticipated a fizzing pass by Benhard Janse van Rensburg and had a clear run to the line.
Cobus Wiese took out his teammate Josh Beaumont with a reckless tackle in trying to arrest the progress of a muscular carry by Sinckler and when Sheedy knocked over the resulting penalty the Bears were back within a converted score. But Ford showed his class again by popping a pass to Wiese and Joe Carpenter had plenty of space to secure their bonus point.
At 27-13, Bristol fought to bring themselves within striking distance on the scoreboard, but the visitors’ high-energy defence never looked unduly troubled. Of denying their opponents a losing bonus point, Sanderson said: “I’m more pleased with that than I was with the attacking bonus. That’s just the way I’m wired.”
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Pat Lam, Bristol’s director of rugby, said: “George is a class player. We all saw that at the World Cup, and he makes a big difference to them, 100%. But collectively, as a team, they’re a good side. They want to impose themselves on you, and take your time and space away.”
Bristol, who travel down the road to in-form Bath on Friday, will not be the last team to fall in the face of Sale’s power and precision.
