Sale left to sweat on Lions-bound Curry as Pollard kicks Tigers to victory

Ollie Hassell-Collins and Emeka Ilione both scored two tries as Leicester edged Sale 44-34 in a pulsating contest to make them firm favourites for a home Premiership semi-final.

Leicester trailed 26-16 at one stage but their bonus-point victory takes the second-placed Tigers seven points clear of Sale with two league games remaining, one of which is a home fixture with bottom club Newcastle.

The defeat was rough justice on Sale, who lost newly-selected British Lion Tom Curry to a leg injury as they matched their opponents with five tries, but the exemplary goal-kicking of Handre Pollard proved the difference.

Pollard missed nothing by kicking three penalties and five conversions, with Adam Radwan also on Leicester’s try-scoring sheet.

Rob du Preez scored two of Sale’s tries with Luke Cowan-Dickie, Rekeiti Ma’asi-White and Arron Reed also crossing and George Ford converting three and adding a penalty.

It took Sale less than two minutes to open the scoring. They won a penalty at the first scrum and from the resulting line-out Cowan-Dickie was shoved over the line.

However the response was swift as Tigers built a period of sustained pressure before a break from Pollard sent Radwan flying over for the wing’s seventh try in six games since joining the club from Newcastle.

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Avg. Points Scored

4.7

8

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Avg. Points Scored

2.5

12

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Pollard converted and added a penalty after it was Sale’s turn to infringe at the scrum but the home side proceeded to bungle the restart.

That gave Sale an attacking platform and they made it count when Ma’asi-White ran a neat line off a well-timed pass from Du Preez to evade Freddie Steward and score.

Ford converted for Sale to lead 12-10 at the end of a hectic first quarter.

A second penalty from Pollard put his side back in front but the lead was short-lived as an elusive run from Ford split the defence to send Reed in under the posts.

Sale then suffered two blows in quick succession. First, Curry limped off to be replaced by his brother Ben, before Pollard reduced the arrears with his third penalty.

With the last move of a breathtaking first- half, Sale collected their bonus-point when a pumped-up Ford sent Du Preez over before converting to leave his side with a deserved 26-16 half-time advantage.

Sale began the second half strongly but crucially missed a couple of opportunities to score and they were made to pay when Hassell-Collins collected a cross-field kick from Pollard to finish in style.

Minutes later, Hassell-Collins scored his second when he latched onto a stray pass to bemuse the visitors’ defence with a mazy run to the line.

Pollard converted but Ford kicked a penalty to leave Sale trailing by just a point with 18 minutes remaining.

The game was in the balance but Sale were becoming error-prone and ill-disciplined and it cost them as Ilione finished off a driving line-out but the visitors immediately replied with a second try for Du Preez.

In the final minute, Sale lock Jonny Hill was sin-binned and Tigers took full advantage when Ilione again finished off a driving line-out to leave Sale with just a single point.