Harlequins 14-36 Sale Sharks: Visitors earn bonus-point Gallagher Premiership win at the Stoop
Tom Roebuck (two), Robert du Preez (two) and Ewan Ashman scored tries as Sale Sharks posted a dominant Premiership victory at Harlequins on Sunday; "If you come down here and don't believe in yourselves, you end up being a bit part as has happened many times in the past" - Alex Sanderson
Last Updated: 06/02/22 7:00pm
Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson was delighted the Sharks got the monkey off their back with a first away win in the Premiership since May after a convincing 36-14 win at reigning champions Harlequins.
Tom Roebuck and Robert Du Preez both scored two tries as Sale picked up their maiden away win of the season, and they did it in style vs Quins.
It was only a second success for Sharks at the Stoop since 2008 but this victory was never in doubt against a subdued Harlequins who badly missed the inspiration of England's Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt.
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Ewan Ashman was also on the try-scoring sheet for Sale, with AJ MacGinty adding a penalty and four conversions.
Hugh Tizard and Tommy Allan scored Quins' tries, with Allan converting both.
Sale had the first chance for points but MacGinty was off target with a long-range penalty, although he was soon on target with a much easier shot after Raffi Quirke's elusive run had forced Quins into offending.
After 16 minutes, Sharks scored the opening try when swift passing from their three-quarters and a well-timed pass from Luke James gave Roebuck the opportunity to squeeze over in the corner.
An excellent touchline conversion from MacGinty into the blustery wind gave the visitors a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Two minutes later, Roebuck picked up his second and again it took some scoring as the wing sailed past Quins full-back Tyrone Green to reward some excellent handling from his inside backs.
The first half continued to be one-way traffic and it came as no surprise when Sale scored their third. Five metres out from the try-line, Quirke tapped a penalty and the hosts' defence was nowhere as Ashman crashed over.
Shortly afterwards, Ashman limped off to be replaced by Curtis Langdon before Quins grabbed a lifeline when Viliami Tualani provided Tizard with a scoring pass.
Sale should have denied them that by kicking the ball into touch when the clock was in red. Instead they elected to attack from a position near their own line before losing possession, with Quins taking their opportunity.
Sale still held a handy 22-7 interval lead and they should have extended that when Roebuck intercepted a pass from Danny Care to race away. The wing looked certain for a hat-trick but with a superb cover tackle, Allan dragged him into touch just short of the line.
The visitors suffered another injury setback when Sam James replaced his brother Luke, who was badly shaken up in a tackle.
The next score was crucial and it went Sale's way when Du Preez dummied his way over to leave Quins needing one of their trademark comebacks.
With 30 minutes remaining, Sale brought on their superstars, Manu Tuilagi and Faf De Klerk, who both returned after long injury absences.
Allan gave his side a glimmer of hope by nipping through a gap for a converted try but Sale were in no mood to surrender their superiority, with Du Preez scoring his second after a well-judged chip ahead from De Klerk.
"If you come down here and don't believe in yourselves, you end up being a bit part as has happened many times in the past," Sanderson said.
"We came down here with the intention of imposing our style of play more like a horror show than the Harlem Globetrotters.
"We've now won back-to-back games in the competition as we've now got a consistent squad and are finding a rich vein of form.
"They had a few key players missing whereas we had most of our stars back in our line-up.
"We are still aiming for the play-offs as I believe we are that good and should be there."
Harlequins head coach Tabai Matson accepted his side were convincingly beaten.
He said: "They were predictably physical and we thought we had a plan in place but we were second best in all facets of the game.
"We give two early tries with piggy-backs up the field by making a number of uncharacteristic errors.
"You can't give them a 20-point start with the power that they had coming from their bench.
"The great thing about this competition is that there is no respite and we will have to get over this result in time for Saracens next week but it was a tough lesson for us."
