Sale: (8) 20
Tries: Foden
Pens: Hodgson 3
Drops: Hodgson 2 Bristol: (6) 6
Pens: Hill 2
A solid performance from Charlie Hodgson helped Sale grind out their first victory of the season thanks to a 20-6 win over Bristol at Edgeley Park.
The fly-half, playing in only his second game since returning from a knee injury, kicked 15 points to add to full-back Ben Foden's first-half try.
Sale could have added a second try after the break but Steve Hanley was tackled into touch by Luke Arscott.
All six of Bristol's points came from the boot of fly-half David Hill.
Sale director of rugby Phillipe Saint-Andre on influential playmaker Hodgson:
"Charlie was back to his best and I was very pleased with the overall performance because we deserved to win.
"He was going into contact much more and his kicking game was fantastic.
"He was kicking into the corner and his pass for our try was magnificent.
"I don't want to say too much because maybe England will call him up for the World Cup quarter-final!"
Bristol head coach Richard Hill:
"Hodgson was right on top of his kicking game and sooner or later you're going to drop the ball, and we did.
"He had great length and great accuracy in wet conditions and that made it very difficult for us to get out of our own third and therefore get any possession."
Sale: Ben Foden, Oriol Ripol, Rudi Keil, Lee Thomas, Steve Hanley, Charlie Hodgson, Sililo Martens, Lionel Faure, Neil Briggs, Ben Evans, Dean Schofield, Sean Cox, Chris Jones, Magnus Lund, Nathan Bonner Evans.
Replacements: Marc Jones, Stuart Turner, Chris Day, David Tait, Richard Wigglesworth, Chris Bell, Chris Mayor.
Bristol: Josh Taumalolo; Lee Robinson, Neil Brew, Sam Cox, Tom Arscott; David Hill, Graeme Beveridge; David Hilton, Scott Linklater, Darren Crompton; Roy Winters; Nathan Budgett; Matt Salter (capt), Joe El Abd, Dan Ward-Smith.
Replacements: Paul Fincken, Jason Hobson, Dave Attwood, James Phillips, Haydn Thomas, Jason Strange, Rob Higgitt
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?