Exeter beat Sale to move into Prem play-off places

The Prem

Exeter (19) 26

Tries: Varney, Ridl, Woodburn, Brown-Bampoe Cons: Slade 3

Sale (7) 14

Tries: Van Rhyn, D du Preez Cons: R du Preez 2

Exeter moved into the Prem play-off places after a 26-14 win over Sale at Sandy Park.

Tries from Stephen Varney and Campbell Ridl saw Exeter 12-0 up after 15 minutes as the Chiefs dominated the opening exchanges.

But Ernst van Rhyn's try got Sale back into it before Olly Woodburn replied for the hosts soon after as they led 19-7 at the break.

Dan du Preez's try for Sale in the opening five minutes of the second half cut the gap to five points.

But Exeter secured a try-scoring bonus-point with 15 minutes left as Paul Brown-Bampoe dotted down under the posts.

The victory moves Exeter into third place in the Prem, and they will stay in the top four come the end of the round as the sides they have leapfrogged - Bristol and Leicester - face one another on Sunday.

The loss means Sale remain in seventh place in the table, but their outside hopes of a play-off place seem all but over.

Exeter wasted no time banishing the memory of last week's 66-14 drubbing at Leicester in the Prem Cup final as Varney exchanged passes with Ross Vintcent on the left wing before cantering over in the fifth minute.

Having seen Henry Slade miss a penalty, Vintcent was again the provider as Ridl skipped past a defender to go over for the second try seven minutes later as the Chiefs had 82% possession and 96% territory in the opening 15 minutes.

But Sale hit back in the 22nd minute when van Rhyn went in from close range after five minutes of pressure on the Exeter line - Arron Reed and Nathan Jibulu had been held up before the South African lock went over.

Exeter's defence soaked up more pressure before the hosts reasserted their authority as Woodburn crossed for their third try nine minutes from the break after Harvey Skinner and Brown-Bampoe had broken through the Sale lines.

The visitors thought they had let their superb start to the second half go to waste when former Exeter forward Jacques Vermeulen knocked on as he crossed the line after eight phases.

But from the resulting five-metre scrum, the Sharks pack melted the home forwards and Du Preez trotted in from the base of the scrum.

Exeter saw a good chance for a bonus-point try go begging when Brown-Bampoe was deceived by the bounce from Skinner's cross-field kick after eight phases of pressure on the Sale line.

Yet the winger made no mistake with 15 minutes left as a lovely set play between Varney and Skinner put him through from 22 metres out.

The final six minutes were played with uncontested scrums after Sale's replacement tight-head Willgriff John was taken off on a stretcher with a head injury, having replaced the injured James Harper, and the Sharks had no others to safely play in the role.

The Chiefs almost had a fifth try a few minutes after the game restarted when Skinner intercepted a pass around halfway, but was caught a couple of metres from the Sale line.

Exeter attack coach Dave Walder told BBC Radio Devon:

"I think with 10 minutes to go we made life a little bit harder for ourselves than maybe we could have done, but ultimately delighted with the short week, guys coming back in from long-term injuries, international duty.

"The key is how quickly we gelled and I thought first half we were outstanding.

"Second half we probably took our eye off the ball a little bit, Sale came back into it, but ultimately it was about getting the result today, which we did in the end.

"You want to start fast at home, get the crowd behind you, emotionally show you're right in the game and I thought the lads did that really well."

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson:

"I'm disappointed with the result, but I'm very happy with many aspects of the game and I'm not just talking about the fight we showed right until the death.

"I thought our scrum functioned very well, especially in the first half.

"Defensively we held them three or four times, and with a bit of ambition and accuracy in attack, we could have come away to a very hard place and picked up a result."

Exeter: Woodburn; Brown-Bampoe, Slade, Rigg, Ridl; Skinner, Varney; Sio, Yeandle, Tchumbadze, Jenkins (capt), Zambonin, Hooper, Vintcent, Fisilau.

Replacements: Heaven, Goodrick-Clarke, J Roots, Pearson, Worley Brady, Cairns, Haydon-Wood, D John.

Sale: Carpenter; O'Flaherty, Louw, Ma'asi-White, Reed; R du Preez, Quirke; McIntyre, Jibulu, Harper, van Rhyn (capt), Bamber, Verrmeulen, Dugdale, D du Preez.

Replacements: Caine, McEachran, W John, Gilmore, Logan, Warr, Davies, Wills.

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe.