Scarlets 28-11 Sale: Scarlets see off sloppy Sharks
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 15/10/16 10:59pm
Sale suffered a poor start to their Champions Cup campaign with a 28-11 loss to Scarlets at Parc-y-Scarlets.
The Sharks were beaten by first-half tries from Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies and winger DTH van der Merwe.
And Van der Merwe's second touchdown after 57 minutes ended the contest, with Scarlets fly-half Rhys Patchell adding three penalties and two conversions to underpin a comfortable win ahead of next Saturday's daunting assignment against Pool 3 favourites Saracens in north London.
Hooker Neil Briggs claimed a try for the visitors, with fly-half Dan Mugford adding two penalties, but in a group that also includes European heavyweights Toulon, Sale already have an uphill battle for play-off qualification.
Mugford kicked Sale into a third-minute lead, but the Scarlets responded with a 13-point scoring burst in six minutes as they made their presence felt.
A Patchell penalty put them level, then scrum-half Davies charged down Mugford's attempted clearance from just inside his own 22 and gathered the bounce to score, before Patchell converted and then kicked another penalty.
Patchell then landed a long-range penalty to leave Sale 16-3 behind, but the visitors responded from their first attack as the forwards laid an imposing platform from an attacking lineout and Briggs stormed through a gap to touch down and reduce the deficit.
But the Scarlets continued to dominate territory and possession, and extended their lead following more good work by Wales no 9 Davies.
He made initial headway with a burst, before his half-back partner Patchell kicked towards the right wing, and Canada international Van der Merwe gathered and finished in one movement to restore a 13-point advantage.
Mugford applied the final scoring act of a lively opening period when he kicked a penalty just before the break, but the Scarlets were good value for a 21-11 interval advantage.
And Sale did not help their cause when they were temporarily reduced to 14 men just eight minutes after the restart when a high tackle by Harrison on Scarlets skipper Ken Owens resulted in French referee Romain Poite sin-binning the prop.
Van der Merwe's second try sealed the deal, and Sale then collected a second yellow card, this time for substitute Andrei Ostrikov following a high tackle, which left the closing 15 minutes all about whether or not the Scarlets could claim a bonus point.
It did not materialise, though, as both sides failed to add any further points.
