Sale hold off late flurry to tough out big result

SALE Sharks returned to title-challenging form with a 31-27 victory over a free-flowing Gloucester side.

- TOM JEFFREYS

Alex Sanderson's three years has seen the Sharks place a premium on physicality, and a Gloucester willing to attack from anywhere were suffocated for large periods of the game, before a late flurry of tries set up a nervy finish for the hosts.

They had coasted into 31-15 ahead by the 70th minute from a 14-8 half time lead, but late tries from Caolan Englefield and Max Llewellyn set up a grandstand final two minutes.

The hosts, however, reaped the rewards from a dominant display, their defence largely robust and their attack clinical for the first time this season, this was Sharks at their recent best.