A breeze for Du Preez as he puts the boot in
Sale 27 Bristol 10 Henry Talbot
EENGLAND flanker Brad Shields has recovered from an ankle injury and will take his place in the Wasps side that entertains Bath at the Ricoh Arena.
Shields who broke a cheekbone earlier in the season is now fully fit after an injection in his ankle after struggling to overcome the problem.
Prop Jake Cooper-Woolley is also restored to the starting line-up while scrum-half Dan Robson will be on the bench.
Bath boss Todd Blackadder is
ROBERT DU PREEZ’S trusty boot was a points machine for relentless Sale.
The fly-half kicked 17 points as Sale secured their fourth victory of the season, a triumph over Bristol at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Pat Lam’s Bristol outfit have adapted impressively to life in the top tier and they started the match impressively in Greater Manchester, going 3-0 in front via Ian Madigan’s effort off the tee. But
He opened the try-scoring as the Chiefs overcame Sarries to regain top spot in the Gallagher Premiership.
Chiefs’ bonus point victory took them three points above their opponents, who had not lost since being defeated by European Champions Cup opponents Leinster on April 1.
It was also Saracens’ first Premiership reversal for more than nine months – when
Exeter beat them in Devon.
Cowan-Dickie and
England front-row counterpart Harry Williams scored tries, while Exeter also gained a penalty try 12 minutes from time before number eight Matt
Kvesic’s touchdown secured a five-point maximum.
Fly-half Gareth Steenson kicked a penalty and two conversions, while Joe Simmonds added the final conversion to take Exeter past 30 points.
Saracens managed two early Owen Farrell penalties – they led 6-0 midway through the first half – but did not score again until the 76th minute when scrum-half Ben Spencer claimed a consolation try that Farrell converted.
Exeter were full value for an impressive win, and in toppling their still without Wales international Taulupe Faletau after the No8’s return from a broken arm was put off until next month.
But fly-half Freddie Burns is back in the starting line-up to partner Will Chudley, who will captain the side from scrumhalf.
Wasps have sold 30,000 tickets for the clash, which will be the biggest attendance for a non-Twickenham club match this season. Denny Solomona’s try and three Du Preez penalties gave the Sharks a 14-3 advantage at the interval.
Sale controlled matters in the final 40 minutes as Bristol struggled to get out of their half, and Du Preez effectively secured the victory with two more threepointers.
To Bristol’s credit, they continued to battle and were rewarded when Steven Luatua touched down in the 70th minute to give the visitors a glimmer of hope.
But the Salford-based outfit prevented their opponents from gaining a losing bonus point when Will Cliff crossed the whitewash right at the end. NEWCASTLE Falcons are looking to climb off the bottom of the Premiership table by clocking up a third successive win at the expense of visiting Gloucester.
The Falcons, who beat Bath and Northampton Saints in their last two league games, welcome back Fijian star Josh Matavesi after a three-month ankle injury.
Dean Richards also recalls Alex Tait, Logovi’i Mulipola, Calum Green and Gary Graham to the side that has suffered back-to-back Champions Cup defeats to Edinburgh.
The clash at Kingston Park will be the 250th game that Charlie Sharples has played for Gloucester, who are without Danny Cipriani for six weeks with a chest injury.
Sharples this week signed a contract to remain with the club that he has served for the last decade, while Lewis Ludlow is back after two months out with a wrist problem.