Sharks Preez to vital victory over Wasps
THE Du Preez brothers scored 22 of Sale’s points as they secured an important Gallagher Premiership win over Wasps.
It was an attritional contest at the AJ Bell Stadium as the sides regularly battled for territory.
They traded kicks early on but it was Embrose Papier’s which proved to be the most effective as he landed it perfectly for Byron McGuigan and Daniel du Preez to counter-ruck. Wasps duly infringed and pivot Rob Du Preez took the hosts in front.
But full-back Simon Hammersley was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on.
With the Sharks down to 14 men, the Coventry outfit capitalised and a brilliant driving maul was finished off by Vailanu.
Sopoaga converted and then added an excellent long range penalty as the 2017 Premiership runners-up opened up a deserved seven-point buffer.
Dai Young’s men were in control but made a series of errors which allowed Sale to go into the break ahead.
Firstly, Jimmy Gopperth’s poor pass was intercepted by McGuigan and the wing did superbly to fend off several would-be tacklers to off-load for number eight Daniel Du Preez to score.
Under pressure, Wasps conceded several penalties but the Sharks’ fly-half could only convert one of them as they went into the interval 13-10 ahead.
The Sharks began the second period well and moved further in front via the boot of their pivot.
They were now on the front foot but the away side manufactured a brilliant effort to get back into the contest.
Sopoaga started it before De Jongh, Nizaam Carr and Tommy Taylor combined to put Kibirige in space and he did superbly to chip over the top and touch down to reduce the arrears to one point.
However further ill-discipline from the Midlanders allowed Rob Du Preez to increase the Sharks’ buffer once more.
Searle did manage to keep Wasps in the contest but two MacGinty penalties sealed the win for Sale.
There was a scrappy and concerning end to the game. Visiting wing Paolo Odogwu got a red card for kicking Rohan Janse Van Rensburg when collecting a high ball, while Sale lock Josh Beaumont went off with a serious-looking injury.