Sale blow 14-0 lead to slump to home defeat by Glasgow in Euro opener

Losing is in danger of becoming a habit for Sale as they came off second-best to a stellar Glasgow side who headed back north with a bonus-point win in this Investec Champions Cup opener.

Alex Sanderson’s hosts have already lost four games in the Prem and they let slip an early 14-0 lead to a visiting team packed with some of Scotland’s finest talent. The Warriors showed their mettle to score four tries and condemn Sale to another bitterly disappointing home loss.

Sale were understrength with a number of England internationals absent, but Sanderson will be concerned how their once fortress-like home has become anything but in the past seven days. For a club as ambitious and big-spending as Sale, their season is already in danger of unravelling.

A bitterly cold, windswept evening on the outskirts of Salford can test the soul, but Sale had warmed to their task quickly. They led inside the second minute after a lineout on the left flank saw them camped inside Glasgow’s 22 metre line.

The pressure soon told when captain Ernst van Rhyn outmuscled the visiting defence to squeeze over from close range and Rob du Preez converted. It was the perfect early tonic for Sanderson’s men, seven days after they capitulated at home to Exeter to slip to their fourth defeat from six Prem outings.

Sale led 26-6 early in the second half against Rob Baxter’s side before shipping 21 unanswered points to lose 27-26. To make matters worse, their talisman George Ford and prodigiously talented young prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour picked up injuries.

That sidelined the pair along with England teammates Joe Carpenter, Tom Roebuck, Bevan Rodd and Luke Cowan-Dickie. The good news was that Ben Curry was fit to return on the bench after hamstring surgery against a Glasgow side packed with Scotland internationals. Sione Tuipulotu was partnered in the centres by Stafford McDowall, on his 100th appearance for the Warriors.

Marius Louw dived over for Sale’s third try to bring them back into the match in the second half. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

Sale’s cause was not helped by the loss of centre Rekeiti Ma’asi-White to injury in the 16th minute but his replacement Ollie Davies scored within three minutes of his introduction.

Some neat handling on the edge of Glasgow’s 22 metre line saw the ball worked to Arron Reed, the Scotland wing playing at full-back. He burst past two defenders before a delightful inside pass sent the supporting 19-year-old Davies scampering clear to score on his Champions Cup debut.

Du Preez’s second conversion put Sale 14-0 ahead but a superb break from deep by Glasgow full-back Josh McKay sent him through the Sale defence and deep into home territory. It came to nothing, but hinted at the possibilities on offer for the visitors if they backed themselves.

Glasgow continued to build through the phases and their pressure finally told in the 32nd minute when hooker Gregor Hiddleston was driven over in the left corner.

Moments before the interval, flanker Rory Darge dived over from close range and Adam Hastings’s conversion cut Sale’s lead to two points.

The way Glasgow ended the first half poured confidence into their players and they seized the initiative to edge in front just two minutes after the interval. A poor box kick from Sale scrum-half Raffi Quirke was seized upon by Kyle Steyn and he showed impressive speed and strength to outpace a leaden-footed home defence and score.

It was awful defending from the hosts and Hastings added the conversion before Glasgow grabbed a fourth try in the 54th minute when McDowall capitalised on more dreadful defending to canter over from close range, making 26 unanswered points.

In the 64th minute, centre Marius Louw scored Sale’s third try after good work by Tom O’Flaherty, which Du Preez converted to cut Glasgow’s advantage to five points.

Could they rouse themselves once again to find a match-winning score? The answer was no as Glasgow beat Sale in this competition for the second season running.