Sharks’ late show gives first win for Deacon

SALE Sharks claimed a first victory of interim head coach Paul Deacon’s reign as they beat Gloucester 22-19 at Kingsholm thanks to a late try.

Substitute lock Josh Beaumont’s 79th-minute try, converted by fly-half AJ MacGinty, saw Sale home.

MacGinty also kicked five penalties, and Gloucester’s frustration boiled over in the final minute when a mass brawl broke out and centre Billy Twelvetrees was sin-binned.

First-half tries by prop Fraser Balmain and wing Louis ReesZammit appeared to set Gloucester up for victory, while fly-half Lloyd Evans booted three penalties.

But they were denied during the closing moments, and they remain bottom of the Gallagher Premiership after dropping there just hours before kick-off when Worcester were awarded four points due to their coronavirus-related cancelled game against Harlequins.

It was Sale’s first win since rugby director Steve Diamond unexpectedly left the club, and followed successive defeats against Toulon, Edinburgh and Wasps.

Gloucester boss George Skivington handed a first start of the season to lock Alex Craig, while scrum-half Stephen Varney returned in the solitary back division switch from the side beaten by Exeter on Boxing Day.

Sale, meanwhile, welcomed back captain Jono Ross following a three-week absence, while 20-year-old academy prop Bevan Rodd started alongside front-row colleagues Akker Van Der Merwe and Coenie Oosthuizen.

Gloucester were quickest out of the blocks as snow showers swirled around Kingsholm.

But Gloucester’s first-half momentum was lost as Sale could reflect on a dominant third-quarter display.

However, an Evans penalty gave Gloucester breathing space, and Sale could find no way back until Beaumont’s close-range score that MacGinty converted with only a minute to go.