The Sale Sharks made a strong statement in their opening game of the PWR against Leicester Tigers as they came away with a 46 – 17 win, the most points scored all weekend.
Sale Sharks vs Leicester Tigers match report
It was a sensational start for the Sharks as they tallied up a huge five tries – and bonus point – within the first 25 minutes.
It was their powerful mauls that allowed such a huge performance, as their aggression simply bulldozed through the Tigers defence and pushed international players Erica Jarrell-Searcy and Rhona Lloyd across the whitewash again and again.
The Sharks increased their lead even further after Holly Thorpe ran down the wing for an opportune try. However, the last ten minutes of the first half saw Leicester Tigers click into a more offensive framework deep in Sale’s 22.
These efforts were ultimately rewarded with a Tess Feury try just as half time rolled in, meaning the Tigers had finally clocked in their first points of the match.
Leicester Tigers up the ante
The second half held a similar story of Sale dominating the opening moments, as Amy Relf barrelled across. Yet, the Tigers had obviously learnt from the first half as they demonstrated some truly impenetrable defence that kept Sale Sharks resolutely clear of the try line for 15 minutes.
Trudy Cowan finally broke through this wall, with a barn storming carry off the back of an offload to score another Sharks try.
However, Leicester Tigers had finally started to click into form and the last twenty minutes reflected this as they managed to cross Sale’s try line twice. Feury earnt her second try of the day, before the Tigers were awarded a penalty try after their opponents illegally brought down a maul.
Their change in pace was almost dramatic enough to earn the Tigers that elusive bonus point as Amelie Anstead made a final 30 metre break in the last moments of the game.
However, the threat was dealt with by Red Rose Holly Aitchison, which meant that Sale finished their first match with a significant 46 – 17 victory.
