Worcester (10) 20 Tries: Latham, Garvey Cons: Carlisle 2 Pens: Carlisle 2 Sale (16) 37 Tries: C Jones, Ripol, Briggs, Bell Cons: Hodgson 4 Pens: Hodgson 2 Drops: Hodgson
Charlie Hodgson added 17 points with the boot for Sale
Sale maintained their Premiership title aspirations with a confident win over Worcester at the Sixways Stadium.
Charlie Hodgson's penalty gave Sale the early lead before a Chris Latham try saw Worcester hit back.
A Chris Jones try, along with a penalty and drop-goal from Hodgson, saw Sale take a 16-10 lead at half time.
And second-half tries from Oriol Ripol, Neil Briggs and Chris Bell ensured the bonus point win for the Sharks, while Marcus Garvey added a consolation try.
The victory will give new director of rugby Kingsley Jones - promoted following Phillipe Saint-Andre's announcement he will be joining Toulon next season - a huge boost as his side attempt to close a two-point gap on new leaders Gloucester.
The visitors were without their England contingent, as well as the inspirational Luke McAlister, and soon found themselves behind after a fine individual try from Latham.
The Australia international pounced on a defensive hole to beat two defenders for the score.
However, the full-back's involvement ended on 16 minutes when he was stretchered off with his neck in a brace after being injured in a maul.
Worcester thought they had extended their lead, but Kai Horstmann's try was disallowed for crossing.
And Sale soon scored 10 unanswered points as Hodgson landed a drop goal before converting Jones's score.
Although Joe Carlisle kicked a 40-metre penalty to reduce the arrears to 16-10 at the break, Sale responded in the second half.
A Rico Gear clearance allowed Ripol to touch down, and Briggs intercepted Carlisle's pass to score, with Hodgson converting both tries.
Worcester grabbed their second try when Garvey finished off a fine move, with Carlisle adding the extras.
But Sale had the last say when Bell charged over for a try, duly converted by the reliable Hodgson.
Worcester director of rugby Mike Ruddock on Chris Latham's injury: "(He) is down the hospital at present. He is to undergo scans, because it appears to be a neck ligament problem.
"For a period of time, Latham lost feeling in his arms and legs - but it has returned. He is conscious, and the medical team are reasonably confident he will be ok.
"It was a great start by us, and we were looking good. But once we lost Latham, they pinned us back and realised we would struggle with our kicking game.
"Our kicking game did let us down, and we 'gifted' them two tries from a couple of moments of madness."
Sale director of rugby Kingsley Jones: "Our set-piece was impressive, and we had 100% success rate in our line-out.
"We also nicked three of their line-outs - which is always good against a side like Worcester.
"Latham was a big loss for them, and when he went off injured we decided to kick more.
"I'm really delighted with our win - and after our poor performance in the home match, I used it as motivation in my speech to the players. They certainly 'fronted up'."
Replacements: Crichton for Latham (16), M. Powell for R. Powell (65), Morris for Mullan (72), Fortey for Lutui (69), Gillies for Bowley (52), T. Wood for Talei (72).
Not Used: Fellows.
Sin Bin: Horstmann (21).
Sale: McLeod, Bell, M. Tait, Thomas, Ripol, Hodgson, Peel, Faure, Bruno, Roberts, Chabal, Schofield, C. Jones, Briggs, Fernandez Lobbe.
Replacements: Keil for M. Tait (61), Wigglesworth for Peel (65), Turner for Faure (65), M. Jones for Bruno (56), White for Chabal (27), D. Tait for C. Jones (57).
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