England hopeful scores hat-trick as Sale Sharks hammer Exeter Chiefs
Tom Roebuck for Sale Sharks against Exeter Chiefs.
England hopeful Tom Roebuck scored a hat-trick for Sale Sharks in their emphatic 41-5 victory over Exeter Chiefs in a one-sided Premiership clash in Salford on Sunday.
The 23-year-old was in electric form for his club as they bounced back from a recent defeat to Bath in style with a six-try success that keeps their play-off hopes alive.
Luke Cowan-Dickie scored against his former club while Gus Warr and Raffi Quirke were Sale Sharks‘ other try-scorers, with George Ford sending over 11 points off the tee.
Exeter‘s points came courtesy of a try from England wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Click here for scorers
Ford had the first opportunity for points but his 40-metre penalty kick into the tricky wind sailed wide.
Sale soon suffered a further blow when flanker Ernst van Rhyn departed with a leg injury to be replaced by Sam Dugdale.
However, Dugdale was immediately into the action by tearing away from a lineout to put the Chiefs defence on the back foot and when the ball was recycled, a well-timed pass from Ford sent Roebuck over for the opening score.
Ford converted and Sale, the better side in the opening quarter, had a deserved 7-0 lead at the end of it.
That lead was extended when Exeter flanker Richard Capstick went off-side at a ruck and Ford knocked over the resulting penalty.
Despite playing with wind advantage, Chiefs struggled to gain any foothold in the match with Sale fly-half Ford marshalling affairs to reward the domination of his forwards.
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It therefore came as no surprise when Sale scored a second try when former Exeter favourite Cowan-Dickie finished off a lineout drive.
The visitors’ woes continued when their full-back Josh Hodge was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on, with the home side capitalising by scoring their third try.
A fired-up Manu Tuilagi made the initial break which was carried on by Roebuck and Bevan Rodd before Warr weaved his way over.
Ford missed the conversion but his side still led 22-0 at the interval, following a half in which their opponents had failed to fire a single shot.
50 seconds after the restart, Sale scored their bonus-point try when Roebuck collected a Warr up and under to race away for his second of the afternoon.
Hodge returned from the sin bin and in time to see his side get on the scoreboard thanks to an excellent individual try from Feyi-Waboso, who possessed too much pace and power for Sale’s coverers.
However, normal service was resumed when Sale replacement Quirke darted away from a quickly-taken penalty to score.
Roebuck should have then completed his hat-trick but somehow lost possession over the line but it mattered little as he was soon presented with the opportunity to achieve the feat and this time he made no mistake.
That's the hat-trick 🎩
Tom Roebuck is causing havoc for @SaleSharksRugby!
Watch live on @rugbyontnt and @ITVRugby 📺#GallagherPrem | #SALvEXE pic.twitter.com/t5r1EwE2tj
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) March 31, 2024
With 15 minutes remaining, Tuilagi and Sharks skipper Ben Curry were replaced but there was to be no addition to the score as Sale celebrated an impressive return to winning ways.
The teams
Sale: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 5 Josh Beaumont, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 James Harper, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Ben Bamber, 20 Hyron Andrews, 21 Sam Dugdale, 22 Raffi Quirke, 23 Sam James
Exeter: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Will Becconsall, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Richard Capstick, 6 Ross Vintcent, 5 Christ Tshiunza, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Lewis Pearson, 20 Jack Dunne, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Zack Wimbush
Referee: Hamish Smales
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley, Johnathan Healy
TMO: Dean Richards