• Tom Curry shown yellow card in Sale defeat
This is proving a distinctly mixed season for English clubs in Europe but the unbeaten Exeter Chiefs are still flying the flag. In front of the watching national head coach Eddie Jones the visitors had to dig deep in the second-half but survived a strong Sale comeback to collect their third win in three outings in Pool Two and stay firmly in control of their own destiny.
It was a much tighter contest than had seemed likely when Exeter led 22-8 after just 26 one-sided minutes. Despite their injury problems in the second-row – a gap which Sale’s Steve Diamond now accepts the brilliant Fijian Leone Nakarawa will not be filling – the Sharks proved cussed opponents and a 75th-minute converted try from Jonno Ross tested the Chiefs resolve to the limit in front of a baying home crowd.
Written by Robert Kitson at the AJ Bell Stadium
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/dec/08/sale-exeter-premiership-match-report under the title “Stuart Hogg inspires Exeter’s victory in all-England encounter at Sale”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
