Premiership: London Welsh 12-52 Sale Sharks

Hooker Tommy Taylor scored two tries for Sale at the Kassam Stadium

Tom Arscott ran in two tries against his old club as Sale comfortably beat London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium.

The Premiership's bottom club had led through Rob Lewis but tries from Mike Haley, Will Addison and two from Tommy Taylor put Sale well in command.

Arscott then crossed twice either side of the break before Opeti Fonua scored for the hosts, but Welsh were not clinical enough with their chances.

Mark Cueto added another Sale try and Addison scored his second late on.

For Sale, who were without Danny Cipriani, Luke McLean and Alberto di Marchi because of their commitments in the Six Nations, it was a well-deserved second league win in a row.

Scrum-half Rob Lewis marked his 100th league appearance for London Welsh with an early try, intercepting well to give his side a seven-point lead once Seb Jewell converted.

But their lead was short-lived as Haley scored from a scrum inside the hosts' 22.

Welsh then had the chance to regain the lead but Jewell's penalty hit the post and, from then onwards, Sale took control.

First Taylor scored from another scrum and then Will Addison, fed by Sam Tuitupou, eased past two challenges for a third Sale try.

Tuitupou provided a neat lay-off for hooker Taylor to score his second and the visitors secured the bonus point before half-time when Arscott completed a swift counter attack after a Welsh mistake.

Fly-half MacLeod converted all five of his side's first-half scores to ensure a 28-point half-time lead.

A quality chip from Haley gave Arscott his second try shortly after the break, before Fonua touched over in the corner to give the hosts some respite.

Further mistakes from the home side kept on coming and Cueto capitalised on one such error to run in from 70 yards out, before Addison became the third Sale player to score his second of the afternoon.

London Welsh assistant coach Ollie Smith:

"The story of our season has been about competing for 60, 70 or 80 minutes. We are just targeting the next game and we want that win, whether it is playing London Irish, Newcastle or Saracens, Bath and teams at the top.

"We have to go after every game now - we know that - and our processes as a coaching group are performance and improvement from week to week.

"If we can play for the 60 or 70 minutes as we have shown, we can compete against good teams."

Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond:

"Today was a banana skin against London Welsh and we didn't want to slip up. Next week is a different kettle of fish.

"We have got to put it together collectively for longer periods of time. We have to be really physical against Saracens next week if we want to pull a scalp and be a top six side.

"We came off beating Northampton in the league but we were wary of London Welsh because they have improved significantly since Christmas. We managed to get those four tries before half-time but in the second half, London Welsh came into it a bit more. We are pleased with the result, with five points."

London Welsh: Jewell; Stegmann, Reynolds, Tincknell, Scott; Barkley, Lewis; Trevett, Britton, Vea, West, Down, Thorpe, Kirwan (capt), Fonua.

Replacements: Morris, Aholelei, Gilding, Corker, Pienaar, Weepu, Robinson, Lewis.

Sale Sharks: Haley; Addison, Leota, Tuitupou, Arscott; Macleod, Cusiter; Lewis-Roberts, Jones, V Cobilas, Mills, Hines, Braid (capt), Seymour, Beaumont.

Replacements: Jones, M Cobilas, Harrison, Lund, Easter, Cliff, Ford, Cueto.