Sale hit six to remain in
SALE claimed the bonus point to stay in the race for the play-offs but their title hopes were dealt a blow with England centre Manu Tuilagi injuring his Achilles in the 12th minute.
Northampton lock Courtney Lawes also left the field, with an ankle injury.
Two Luke James scores, a penalty try and one from Simon Hammersley sealed the bonus point for Sale before half-time as Ahsee Tuala replied for Saints. Alex Mitchell’s try reduced the gap before Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Valeri Morozov took Sale clear.
Victory consolidated Sale’s fourth place in the Premiership with one game to go – at home to Worcester today. Northampton remain seventh and need one point from their final game at Gloucester today to guarantee a Champions Cup place.
Tuilagi needed assistance to leave the field after he was hauled down following a powerful run from inside his own 22.
Sale boss Steve Diamond said: “Manu will be a loss to England and Sale. He’ll be out for six months. It’s brutal what we’re playing at the moment.”
Three minutes after con
ceding the first try Northampton suffred another blow when Lawes was helped off after landing awkwardly as he challenged for a high ball.
Tuilagi followed Lawes off four minutes later compounding the problems of Sale who also lost second row Cobus Wiese in the early part of the game with a knee injury. Just after the
hour mark Northampton fly-half Dan Biggar limped off after converting Mitchell’s second-half try.
Northampton’s evening started badly when James went over in the corner after a looping pass from Dan du Preez, and after a series of mauls were pulled down, referee Wayne Barnes called a penalty try and sin-binned Api Ratuniyarawa.
Despite being a man down, Saints hit back as Tuala cut an excellent line after some intricate passing in the Sale 22, but the lead was stretched to ten points when Biggar misjudged James’ grubber kick, allowing it to go through his legs and letting the Sale full-back go over unchallenged.
Shaun Adendorff had a pushover try for Northampton ruled out after a video replay five minutes before the break and Sale punished them again as Hammersley dived over in the left corner.
Mitchell pulled a try back after an hour as he jinked between a couple of defenders but Faf de Klerk picked out compatriot Van Rensburg on the blindside to score and Morozov then crashed over to complete the scoring.
Northampton DoR Chris Boyd said: “Courtney has an ankle injury and it looks pretty ginger. I wouldn’t be overly hopeful of a fast return. It’s unfortunate for Courtney and maybe in the short term for England.”