Sharks survive Warriors fightback for first points

Sale Sharks survived a second-half fightback from Worcester Warriors to secure their first points of the Premiership season with a 21-15 victory.

An opening 51-23 pummelling from Harlequins left Sale at the foot of the table, but they got off the mark at the AJ Bell Stadium on Sunday by handing Worcester a second straight loss.

The hosts’ first try came in the 20th minute when Marland Yarde used his feet to get a quick pass from AJ MacGinty under control before offloading for Josh Beaumont to dive over in the corner.

Denny Solomona helped put the Sharks 18-0 up at the interval by intercepting Ryan Mills’ pass and racing away from inside his own half to score.

Bryce Heem got the Warriors on the board early in the second half and a Chris Pennell try reduced the deficit to six points with 20 minutes remaining, but the Warriors had to settle for a second straight losing bonus point.

It’s a first win of the season for @SaleSharksRugby

But it was far from easy against a dogged @WorcsWarriors #GallagherPrem #SALvWOR pic.twitter.com/GtpLunkQrL

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) September 9, 2018

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