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Sale Sharks go five for five with win over Exeter

By on in Rugby Union, Sale Sharks

Sale remain unbeaten this season after a dominant 28-20 win over Exeter Chiefs in Salford.

After league wins over Northampton and Bath and Premiership Cup victories over Leicester and Newcastle, Sale have produced a perfect start to the 2022/23 campaign.

The Sharks went into the fixture boosted by the return of club captain Tom Curry, who was ruled out of the start of the season after being concussed in England’s summer tour of Australia. Tom paired with his twin brother Ben in the Sale backrow for the first time this season.

Exeter came into this game in similarly good form, unbeaten in the league after three wins from three, second in the league table and buoyed after a thrilling last minute win versus Harlequins last week.

A low-scoring but fiercely physical first half saw Chiefs jump out to an early lead from a Luke Cowan-Dickie try. A typical Exeter try from a 5-metre rolling maul.

Sale fought back and found their foothold in the game from their own rolling maul, captain Ben Curry was the man to get the ball over the line.

Sale’s Rob Du Preez and Chiefs’ Henry Slade swapped penalties to send the teams into the halftime break level at 10-10, a fair reflection of an exceptionally competitive and even 40 minutes of rugby.

Sale came to life in the second half with an early try for hooker Akker Van Der Merwe, again off a rolling maul.

Chiefs came back with a try for replacement scrum half Sam Maunder but Sharks soon re-took the lead from the boot of Du Preez.

The Sharks then began to dominate possession and territory and after many phases of sustained pressure which Chiefs were able to repel, the dam finally broke and Gus Warr’s looping pass found Joe Carpenter in the corner to dot down. The 21-year-old scoring his first Premiership try on his Premiership debut.

Slade scored another penalty to bring Chiefs back within seven points but with two minutes to go, another Du Preez penalty from right in-front the posts put the game to bed.

Slade had one last chance to gain Chiefs a creditable losing bonus point, with a penalty on 80 minutes from around 40 metres out. But the kick fell short and the final whistle blew as the chants of Sale rang around the stadium.

Sale Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson was brimming with pride for his debutant fullback in his post-match press conference. He said, “he (Joe Carpenter) produced today, everything we said in training came to fruition today.

“He has worked really hard and had to struggle with injuries the last couple years, it is really bad about Luke (James) getting injured, but it has opened a door for Joe and he has stepped through that door today.”

Sanderson went on to hail the rest of his team for their determination. He continued: “It was a really tough first 20, we made a lot of tackles, to go on and win that last 20 was everything we wanted in terms of our mentality.”

This win leaves Sale second in the Premiership table with fourteen points from fifteen and level with leaders Saracens. They travel to Leicester next Saturday to face title-holders Tigers, looking to continue the outstanding start to the season.

Sale’s fixtures can be found here: Fixtures & Results Archive | Sale Sharks

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