Premiership: Sale Sharks 40-7 Bristol Bears

Daniel du Preez's cute pass to Luke James set up the opening score after five minutes

Sale Sharks moved above Bristol Bears into second in the Premiership as three early tries set up a ruthless victory at AJ Bell Stadium.

A barnstorming opening saw Luke James, Denny Solomona and Faf de Klerk cross for converted tries inside 20 minutes.

Sam James then put Sale 26-0 up with a score out wide, before Alapati Leiua's try cut the deficit prior to the break.

But slick home moves saw Marland Yarde touch down and Luke James add a second try as they closed out a routine win.

Bristol's second consecutive defeat, following Tuesday's loss against leaders Exeter Chiefs, further dents their chances of a home play-off and also brings into question their top-four hopes - with fifth-placed Wasps just five points adrift with a game in hand.

But Sale's emphatic bonus-point win was their second in five days and takes them two points above Bristol.

The under-strength Bears never coped with their power and intelligent attacking rugby, much of which stemmed from South Africa scrum-half De Klerk's quality and nous, both of which were evident from the outset.

Faf de Klerk, one of 13 changes to the Sale side, scored his side's third try

Daniel du Preez's delightful offload enabled Luke James to go over for the first try then Solomona profited from a loose pass and, after some juggling following a low pick-up, ran in for the second score.

England centre Manu Tuilagi then powered through several weak challenges on the right to help create the simplest of scores for De Klerk.

And the fourth home try, to earn a bonus point after only 31 minutes, arrived when Yarde returned a long kick and ran into space to start a move which ended with Sam James touching down in the corner from Solomona's well-timed pass.

Bears, missing rested Fiji back Semi Radradra and England prop Kyle Sinckler, responded through Leiua, who made the most of AJ MacGinty's sloppy pass.

But the respite was brief, James scoring his second of the afternoon and Yarde adding the sixth try by muscling through after a well-worked line-out move and typically astute inside pass from De Klerk.

A youthful Bristol side, featuring 10 academy graduates which included 19-year-old winger Jack Bates, managed to avoid further punishment.

Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond: "We have learnt lessons from recent games.

"We gave away 40 penalties in two games and now, when we are looking at our last results with a full-strength side, it is no surprise that we are winning games, having only given away 17 penalties away.

"That has made a massive difference. Exeter beat us fair and square in the end and you have to take that. We said that, if we carry on playing like this, then we are out of the running for the title.

"I have been pleased with our reaction, and we knew we would still have to do a job today against a good side that Pat (Lam) has put together. They showed against Exeter that they can come back in games and we had to work hard against them."

Bristol head coach Pat Lam: "This is a disappointing result, but we are a young team and we will learn from this.

"Games like this give the player a chance to learn to continue in their development. This is a real positive as it gives us a chance to see how the players are learning.

"The other big positive for us is the way the players reacted today. We know that Sale are a really good side, and a really direct side. But we have got young players smashing into some big guys and that is a positive.

"But as part of the learning process, the guys have seen that the next level up for them is all in the details of their performances."

Sale: L James; Solomona, S James, Tuilagi, Yarde; MacGinty, De Klerk; Harrison, Van der Merwe, Oosthuizen, J-L du Preez, De Jager, T Curry, B Curry (capt), D du Preez.

Replacements: Langdon, Morozov, John, Postlethwaite, Ross, Cliff, Janse van Rensburg, Reed.

Bristol: Malins; Leiua, O'Conor, S Piutau (capt), Bates; Eden, Uren; Woolmore, Capon, Thomas, Holmes, Joyce, Dun, Heenan, Earl.

Replacements: Kloska, McCabe, Assiratti, Hawkins, Eadie, Randall, Lloyd, Powell.

Referee: Karl Dickson.

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