Aviva Premiership: Danny Cipriani leads Sale past Exeter
Saturday 20 December 2014 19:29, UK
Danny Cipriani created one try and scored another as Sale ruined Exeter's hopes of climbing to the top of the Aviva Premiership with an 18-11 win on a wet and windy Friday evening.
Cipriani was Sale's second-half inspiration as they claimed their fourth straight win - putting Mark Cueto over for Sale's first try in the 51st minute and then scoring himself just before the hour mark.
That sealed a deserved win for the Sharks as Exeter failed to recover from a slow start in which they lost Ben White to the sinbin - Cipriani kicking the hosts' first points as a result.
Jack Nowell almost hit Sale on the break as he chased down a kick forward only to be denied a certain try by the fingertips of a diving Mike Haley.
Gareth Steenson did haul Exeter level after Sale were penalised at the scrum, but they fell behind before the break courtesy of another Cipriani penalty.
A driving maul on 51 minutes prompted Cipriani to send Cueto over in the left corner and having converted, he capped a fine move involving Haley and Cueto with a dive over the line to stretch Sale's lead.
He was to be immediately replaced after picking up a leg injury in the act of scoring and when his replacement Joe Ford missed the conversion, Thomas Waldrom drove over the line to snatch a bonus point for the visitors.
