Morahan gets Bears back on the prowl
LUKE Morahan scored two tries as Bristol regained some of their absent mojo to pick up a morale-boosting bonus-point win.
After four consecutive Premiership defeats, Bristol were indebted to an excellent performance from Morahan, who was switched from his customary wing position to full-back in the absence of the injured Charles Piutau.
A wholly-committed effort from the Bears’ pack also helped which gave Callum Sheedy free rein to launch his three-quarters with the inter-play of Morahan and Ioan Lloyd being the highlight.
Bristol’s director of rugby Pat Lam said: “Ioan has unbelievable skill and he is getting better as he just needs to do the simple things.
“Our recent results backed us into a corner and we knew we had to stand up and fight and we delivered.
“We weren’t far away in recent games but little things proved costly so it was a big step up for us and a good launch pad for the future.
“We are ready for the next challenge in Europe against Stade Francais but I’m not confident that they will be here until I see them.”
Bristol will be buoyed by their improvement but their opponents will reflect on what might have been.
Once again their ill-discipline proved a problem with 12 points conceded when Tom Curry was in the sin-bin.
In addition, marginal refereeing calls ruled out two tries but in attack they relied too much on the machinations of AJ MacGinty to pose any attacking threat as Bristol’s passing was always crisper and more accurate.
Sale took an early lead when MacGinty’s halfbreak put them on the front foot before Robert du Preez and Marland Yarde combined to provide Ewan Ashman with a run-in.
Sale’s explosive start was marred when they conceded three penalties in the first nine minutes, the last of which saw Curry yellow carded for a deliberate off-side to gift Bears their first points when Will Capon finished off a driving line-out.
Curry was still absent when the hosts picked up their second.
A long pass from Sam Bedlow created space for Morahan, who brushed aside some weak tackling to score.
A mistake from Lloyd was responsible for Sale drawing level.
The wing tried to run it out from behind his line but it resulted in putting his side under pressure with the visitors capitalising when a strong run from Luke James, on his 100th appearance for Sharks, created a try for Robert du Preez.
Lloyd immediately made amends with a scintillating 40m burst before a clever inside pass from Semi Radradra sent Morahan over for his second.
Sheedy converted before MacGinty kicked a penalty to leave Sale trailing 19-15 at the interval.
Two Sheedy penalties were the only scores of the third quarter before Sale looked to have reduced the arrears but twice in quick succession their tries were ruled out. Brothers, Luke and Sam James both touched down but TMO replays appeared to show knock-ons so referee, Wayne Barnes, who was making his 250th Premiership appearance, ruled out both scores.
The second half looked set to finish try-less but neat inter-play between Sheedy and Lloyd sent Andy Uren over for the bonus point.