Saints battle to claim losing bonus point at Sale

Salford Stadium was to remain an unhappy hunting ground for the black, green and gold as they fell to a 29-22 defeat.

But they were able to at least salvage something from a traditionally tricky away trip as Collins, with a brace, and the equally impressive Ollie Sleightholme scored.

The game had looked to have completely got away from Phil Dowson's side in the second half, as the hosts secured a try bonus point.

Saints, who had been giving just as good as they had got at 10-3 down after 54 minutes, did keep fighting until the end, scoring their three tries after falling 29-3 behind.

But the efforts from Collins and Sleightholme were not enough to save Saints from defeat as Dowson's first competitive game in charge ended with a loss.

Saints had headed to Sale having not won there since 2017, but they looked more than up for the fight early on.

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto announced himself on the Premiership stage with a huge carry that floored Ben Curry, leaving the Sale skipper needing a head injury assessment.

Matt Proctor was soon slaloming his way towards the line, but he was stopped inside the 22.

Saints earned a couple of penalties though, allowing James Grayson to notch his side's first three points of the campaign from the tee.

Saints were dealing with Sale's surges well, keeping the hosts well away from the try line.

But that changed as Aaron Hinkley shot out of the line, allowing Dan du Preez to charge through a huge hole before offloading to Gus Warr for the score.

Rob du Preez slotted the conversion with aplomb to give Sale a 7-3 lead after what had been a largely even start to the contest.

Curry was able to return from his successful HIA soon after, but Jean-Luc du Preez soon had to go off for his own assessment as the highly physical nature of the clash continued.

Saints had a chance to punish Sale after kicking another penalty to the corner, but the home side were dealing with the away side's attempted advances.

Alex Mitchell tried to mastermind something from just inside his own half, but he ran inside and was stopped inside the home 22 before Courtnall Skosan was bundled into touch.

Saints continued to give Sale penalties inside the home 22, allowing the Sharks to relieve the pressure far too easily.

Skosan was soon sent to the sin bin as the officials felt he had changed his line to collide with a Sale defender off the ball.

It felt like a very harsh call with 11 minutes to go before the break, and it left Saints with a big job to do.

The away side were still applying pressure, winning more lineouts deep in Sale territory, but they just could not make them count as the hosts continually got off the hook.

Sale rubbed salt in the wounds with a scrum penalty, slotted by fly-half du Preez, pushing the Sharks seven points ahead in a half in which they had rarely threatened.

That being said, they were able to trouble Saints just before the break, and it took some excellent defensive work from Sleightholme to stop them, as he dislodged the ball when it looked certain the Sharks would score on the left.

As it was, Saints headed in seven points down at half-time but they were soon on the front foot in the second half, once again failing to find a way through.

Sale were eager to take advantage at the other end, with Skosan having to produce a huge hit to stop Tom O'Flaherty out wide.

Saints were defending well on the whole, but after they got penned in on their own line, Sale got the five-metre scrum they craved.

Eventually, Saints got sucked in, leaving space on the right, where Luke James was able to profit with the home side's second score of the game.

Du Preez kicked and it looked a long way back at 17-3 down.

It was an even longer way back soon after as Sale stole the ball close to halfway before piecing together a score that ended with Sam James beating George Furbank to score out wide.

It looked like Mitchell may have been blocked in the build-up, with the Saints scrum-half asking referee Matthew Carley why it wasn't given, but there was no TMO at the game and so there would be no review.

Du Preez added the extras and the game had got away from Saints, who were now under real pressure with Sale's belief growing all the time.

The Sharks quickly registered their bonus-point score as a lovely grubber kick opened the door for O'Flaherty to dive over.

Du Preez missed the conversion this time, but it wasn't going to matter as Saints were in damage limitation mode at 29-3 down with 18 minutes still to play.

Saints did manage to grab their first score of the match four minutes later as Collins stepped inside a couple of players and finished in trademark fashion.

Grayson converted, and he was doing so again when some good work from Tom Litchfield and Furbank helped to open the door for Sleightholme to score out wide.

It was turning out to be an all-action day for Sleightholme, who had to be alert to get back and stop O'Flaherty latching on to a kick ahead.

Saints were continuing to battle hard, pushing for a third try and what would be a losing bonus point before the end.

And they managed to get it as Sale gave away a penalty with seconds to go, allowing Saints to piece together a move that ended with Collins score on the left.

Grayson missed the conversion but Saints were still able to take a point that their efforts certainly merited.

Sale Sharks: L James; Roebuck (Reed 66), S James, Tuilagi (Curtis 55), O'Flaherty; R du Preez, Warr (Simpson 66); McIntyre (Harrison 44), van der Merwe, Schonert (Oosthuizen 50); Wiese, Postlethwaite (Beaumont 40); JL du Preez, B Curry (c), D du Preez.

Saints: Collins; Sleightholme, Proctor, Dingwall (c) (Litchfield 60), Skosan (Furbank 55); J Grayson, Mitchell (James 62); A Waller (Iyogun 36), Haywood (Matavesi 48), Hill (Petch 55); Salakaia-Loto, Coles; Scott-Young (Moon 66), Hinkley (Graham 55), Augustus.

Referee: Matthew Carley