De Klerk sees red but super Sale still run in six tries

SALE Sharks ran in six tries to comfortably beat the Scarlets despite having scrum-half Faf De Klerk sent off.

The former Springbok had been on the field only for five minutes when he received two consecutive yellow cards midway through the second half, the first for not retreating ten metres and the second for kicking the ball away.

But tries from Josh Charnley, Rob Webber, Ben Curry, Aaron Reed, Josh Strauss and Curtis Langdon were enough to secure victory over a severely under-strength Scarlets.

The Welsh team scored two tries through leftwing Jack Price and scrum-half Lee Rees.

“Faf apologised to the referee after the game and hopefully that will be enough,” said Sale defence coach Mike Forshaw. “It wasn’t ideal for us playing without a scrum-half for most of the second-half but we scored seven tries and are delighted with that.”

The hosts scored the game’s opening try when left-wing Price crossed in the right-hand corner after collecting a speculative kick through from hooker Dafydd Hughes.

Sale’s forward dominance eventually paid off when Charnley dotted down in the corner after a series of powerful scrums.

Former England hooker Rob Webber was next to cross the line when he powered his way over from short range.

The game had barely restarted when Charnley burst through the middle to put Curry over.

The Scarlets rallied and Sale scrum-half Cliff was sent to the sin bin for killing the ball on the floor following a Tom Williams break.

Rees crossed for a long-range Scarlets try on the stroke of half time meaning the hosts turned around 19-18 behind.

Sale’s pack took complete control after the break with Cliff and leftwing Reed both crossing from short range.

De Klerk’s dismissal should have given the Scarlets hope but the Sale pack applied more pressure forcing Bryce Morgan into the sin bin for killing the ball on the floor. With the hosts pinned in their own 22 Strauss and Langdon secured the win with two late tries.

“We had a really positive first half against a strong Sale team,” said Scarlets’ Anglo-Welsh Cup head coach Euros Evans. “In the second half their power game grinded us down a bit.”