Halftime substitute Raffi Quirke led Sale to a historic victory over reigning Premiership champions Leicester, preserving their undefeated league record. Due to Saracens’ inactivity until Sunday, the Sharks have ascended to the top of the standings after coming back from a 16-5 deficit to win their fourth consecutive game.
It was a triumphant homecoming for England scrum-half Quirke, who was playing his first game in six months after suffering a torn hamstring, but another shock to the system for Leicester, who suffered their second consecutive loss. Freddie Burns opened the score for Leicester with a penalty kick after six minutes, when Sale’s defense was stretched by Harry Potter’s break and penalized for being offside.
However, it was the Sharks who scored the game’s opening try in the 11th minute as Tom O’Flaherty nearly escaped before Tom Roebuck scored along the left side after slipping through some sloppy tackling. Rob du Preez’s missed conversion allowed Burns to give the Tigers a 6-5 lead with his second penalty kick after Potter was impeded while attempting to claim a high ball.
Leicester scored their first touchdown of the afternoon after 29 minutes, following another successful field goal attempt by Burns. Sale’s discipline failed them once again. Manu Tuilagi made a last-ditch challenge to halt Potter on the left, but Jasper Wiese picked up the ball before being assisted into the corner by a multitude of teammates.
Gus Warr pitched the ball off the back of a scrum to Du Preez, who threaded his way through the defense to score and convert to cut the hosts’ lead to 16-12. The game was then flipped on its head eight minutes into the second half when Quirke made a break down the right flank and perfectly timed a pass to send Sharks captain Tom Curry in the clear.
Sale’s bonus-point try occurred in the 54th minute when Joe Carpenter made a break down the left wing and passed to Quirke, who ran in unopposed. It took an outstanding effort by Tigers fullback Freddie Steward to prevent O’Flaherty from scoring and keep the home team in the game.
Quirke then avoided a try at the other end by chasing back and stopping Matt Scott millimeters from the try line after the ball escaped his grasp as the ball ran loose. Du Preez squandered an opportunity to extend Sale’s lead further by sending a penalty kick wide, but by then Leicester’s time to stage a comeback was running out.
