Sin-binning sinks Sale

Sale slumped to only their second defeat in nine meetings with Northampton, losing 21-16 at Franklin's Gardens.

The visitors paid a heavy price for the sin-binning of Andy Tuilagi, conceding two tries while the Samoan international was off the pitch to give themselves a mountain to climb.

Former Sale man Ben Foden and Bruce Reihana scored the tries in a decisive three-minute period at the end of the first half.

Flanker James Gaskell stole over from the blindside in the second half to give his side a glimmer of hope.

But the Sharks had to settle for a losing bonus point, sealed by a Charlie Hodgson penalty with the last kick of the match.

Shane Geraghty had nudged Northampton into the lead with an early penalty in an error-strewn first half but his effort was cancelled out by a long-range effort from Hodgson.

Devastating

Hodgson and Reihana were off target with further penalty attempts before Tuilagi was sin-binned after he tangled with Saints winger Chris Ashton.

The visitors wasted no time to push home their advantage, launching a devastating counter-attack when back row Sisaro Koyamibole lost possession.

Geraghty fired a long pass to Ashton, who was held up short of the line but Foden, in close support, drove over for the try that was converted from an acute angle by Geraghty.

Ben Cohen, playing his first game at Franklin's Gardens since he left Northampton two years ago, denied Ashton two minutes later, beating him to a clever kick through from Geraghty.

However sustained pressure from Northampton paid off when Reihana broke a weak tackle by Mark Cueto to score, although Geraghty was unable to add the extras.

Glaring miss

The fly-half - who is a strong contender to start in the centres for England during the autumn internationals - made no mistake three minutes after the restart, though, slotting a well-struck penalty to stretch his side's lead further.

Sale's try came when the ball popped out of a badly controlled Northampton scrum and Gaskell pounced to score, Hodgson converting.

Stephen Myler, who replaced Geraghty midway through the second half, saw a penalty attempt drift wide in the 63rd-minute.

Hodgson managed an even more glaring miss before finding the target after Saints' replacement number eight Mark Easter was yellow-carded for killing the ball.

And when Northampton went offside under their own post at the death, Hodgson made no mistake in securing a losing bonus point for his side.