Friday 20 October 2017 23:02, UK
Sale lost 27-24 away to Lyon in the Challenge Cup on Friday, as Cardiff won 17-15 at Toulouse and Brive thrashed Oyonnax 38-13.
A brace of tries from Sam James went to waste as Sale Sharks squandered a 14-point lead in a 27-24 defeat at Lyon.
The current French Top 14 leaders went ahead in the Pool Two encounter through Lionel Beauxis' penalty but were left reeling by scores from Denny Solomona and James during the opening quarter.
Former England full-back Delon Armitage cut the deficit to four points at the interval with his try, only for Sale to open up a 24-10 lead following James' second of the night, with Francois de Klerk booting the conversion and then a penalty.
Then quickfire converted tries from Liam Gill and Theo Belan levelled things up with 10 minutes remaining.
Sale had drawn their opening fixture against Toulouse last week but there was to be no consolation of a stalemate in France as Frederic Michalak split the posts five minutes from time after Sale were penalised for offside inside their own 22.
It was a better night for Cardiff Blues, who made it two wins out of two after holding on to defeat Toulouse 17-15 in a seesaw contest at the Stade Ernest Wallon.
Nick Williams' try plus Jarrod Evans' conversion and penalty gave the Welsh side a 10-3 advantage after the first quarter. But Romain Ntamack and Antoine Dupont dotted down before the interval to give Toulouse a 15-10 half-time lead.
Macauley Cook's 51st-minute try was converted by Evans, and - although Cardiff were unable to give themselves a cushion - they held on to secure what could prove to be an important victory.
in Pool Five, Damien Jourdain bagged a brace of tries while Petrus Hauman, Thomas Laranjeira and Arnaud Mignardi each crossed the whitewash to lift Brive to a comfortable 38-13 victory over Oyonnax.
