Match Report: 14-man Sale beaten by Toulouse

The Gallagher Premiership were ahead at the break thanks to Akker van der Merwe’s try, but were left with a monumental task against the five-time champions when Cobus Wiese was sent off.

Toulouse ultimately took control of the contest through penalties from Melvyn Jaminet, who racked up a personal tally of 17 points, before late tries from Emmanuel Meafou and Guillaume Cramont sealed their victory, and their place in the Round of 16.

Sale started the game in the ascendancy and were rewarded for their early pressure when hooker van der Merwe peeled off a rolling maul and burrowed over the whitewash.

But there was a huge setback for the hosts, who had lost starting props Simon McIntyre and Nick Schonert to injury early on, when lock Wiese was dismissed for a dangerous clear-out on 18 minutes.

🐗 The Angry Warthog strikes!@SaleSharksRugby take the lead as Akker van der Merwe takes the ball off the maul and bulldozes Ntamack on his way to the line.

Watch the #HeinekenChampionsCup action live on @btsportrugby, @beinsports_FR, @SuperSportTV and @FloRugby pic.twitter.com/yol8t8mSFW

— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) January 14, 2023

However, the 14 men of Sale dug in over the remainder of the half and frustrated Toulouse by competing aggressively at the breakdown.

The TOP 14 side made several errors when in promising positions, and their only points of the first half would be through full-back Jaminet’s first penalty on 25 minutes.

Sale began to show signs of fatigue after the restart and Toulouse punished any ill-discipline through the boot of Jaminet, the former USAP man adding a further four penalties over a 22-minute flurry.

Toulouse had struggled to find their cutting edge until the final 10 minutes when Meafou powered over and a break from scrum-half Antoine Dupont set up replacement hooker Cramont to cross in the corner.

The two sides’ Pool B campaigns conclude next weekend as Sale visit Ulster Rugby on Saturday and Toulouse host Munster Rugby on Sunday.