Sharks tear chunks out of 14-man Perpignan
BYRON McGuigan’s hattrick helped Sale Sharks to a bonus-point victory to start their Challenge Cup campaign on Friday, defeating Perpignan at Stade Aime Giral.
Rob Webber, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Luke James also crossed as Sale made their French opponents pay for ill-discipline.
Perpignan hooker Manu Leiataua was red carded after 19 minutes for an offence with the elbow on Rob Webber’s neck, and although they scored twice themselves through Pierre Lucas and Genesis Mamea, the night belonged to Sale.
It took just six minutes for flying Scot McGuigan to finish off good work by De Klerk, Luke James and Odogwu and score in the corner. De Klerk atoned for an earlier penalty miss by slotting the touchline conversion.
Perpignan managed to level the scores after 16 minutes when centre Lucas nipped through, Bousquet converting.
The Leiataua red card followed three minutes later and the victim Webber gained revenge for the blow with a try from a lineout maul.
De Klerk’s conversion attempt hit the post and Jonathan Bousquet reduced the scores to 12-10. A further penalty nudged Perpignan in front. But Sale’s third try came just before halftime.
De Klerk’s long restart kick was spilled by the home side and Janse Van Rensburg collected to run in unopposed, providing his South African compatriot with a simpler conversion to move six points ahead before Bousquet struck for 19-16.
Bousquet levelled matters six minutes into the second half but it was to be his team’s only score until the game’s final phase.
Sale silenced the feisty crowd by scoring 22 points in 31 minutes without reply. Luke James notched the bonus point try after 58 minutes, collecting a chip from De Klerk who added a penalty to stretch the gap to eight points.
With Perpignan down to 13 men after Pierre Reynaud had played the ball on the ground, McGuigan was put in for two more tries which would have been three but for a foot in touch.
Perpignan mustered one last foray, some 83 minutes after the first whistle, and Lemalu barged over.