Sale hang on to beat Exeter and reach play-offs

Bevan Rodd (left) scored his sixth try of the season as Sale made the play-offs for the fourth time in five years

Gallagher Premiership

Exeter (5) 26

Tries: Brown-Bampoe, Hodge, Haydon-Wood, Capstick Cons: Hodge 3

Sale (20) 30

Tries: Ma'asi-White, Rodd, Cowan-Dickie Cons: Ford 3 Pens: Ford 3

Sale secured third place in the Premiership and a play-off semi-final at Leicester with a 30-26 victory over Exeter in a tense encounter at Sandy Park.

Paul Brown-Bampoe's 20th-minute try briefly put the home side in front before Sale's superb attack kicked into gear as Rekeiti Ma'asi-White and Bevan Rodd went under the posts to help give Sharks a 20-5 lead at the break.

Josh Hodge pulled a try back for the hosts soon after the restart and, when Will Haydon-Wood cut the gap to four points Sale looked worried.

Dan Frost had a fourth Exeter try disallowed for a knock on with 18 minutes left, but former Chiefs favourite Luke Cowan-Dickie forced his way over with 12 minutes left to seal victory for Sale.

Richard Capstick got a fourth try for Exeter with three minutes left to set up a tense finish as the hosts ended the season with two losing bonus points.

The win ensured Sale finish third in the table after second-placed Leicester beat bottom side Newcastle at home - ensuring a trip to Welford Road for the Sharks in next week's semi-finals.

An indisciplined start cost Exeter as George Ford kicked a first-minute penalty for Sale before they gave up possession a couple of metres from the Sharks line having had the better of the early play.

Brown-Bampoe capped a flowing Exeter passing move to get the first try midway through the first half - although the unconverted score came at a cost as recently fit-again back Tommy Wyatt limped off having been hurt in the build-up.

Ford's second penalty a minute later saw Sale retake the lead before Ma'asi-White capped off a superb passing sequence to go under the posts as Exeter struggled to defend against Sale's excellent offloading.

It was more of the same eight minutes later as Rodd was the beneficiary after Ford and Arron Reed combined to create the gap for the Sale loose-head to score.

And it got worse for the home side when Ethan Roots was sin-binned shortly before the break for bringing down a maul, but despite being a man down they started the second half impressively.

Exeter fightback falls just short

Richard Capstick's try ensured a tense end to the game

Persistent pressure eventually told as Ma'asi-White was sin-binned after a number of penalties on the Sale line and soon after Hodge went over in the right corner as Exeter exploited the extra space.

A third Ford penalty soon after calmed Sale's nerves with less than 30 minutes to play, but Haydon-Wood rounded off Exeter's best attacking move of the afternoon, Hodge and Henry Slade linked up to put the replacement over.

Exeter thought they had taken the lead five minutes later when Frost was forced over, but replays showed he had lost control off the ball as he dived over the line.

Sale regained their composure and their double-digit advantage with 12 minutes to go as Cowan-Dickie forced his way over from close range.

Sale missed out on a fourth try six minutes later when Gus Warr was sin-binned after replays showed a dangerous tackle in the build-up to a try from Reed, while from the resulting line-out penalty Exeter replacement Jimmy Roots was held up over the Sale line.

But Exeter did get a fifth try when Capstick ran in after Slade and Tamati Tua combined.

Close win 'readies' Sale for semi-final - Sanderson

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter told BBC Sport:

"At the end of the day I'm disappointed.

"I think we were really good for about 20 minutes, three points and really sticking in the fight, and then we were real soft for 20 minutes.

"We concede those points and we showed just enough fight not to concede just before half-time, which was crucial because that slowed me to go after the lads a little bit at half-time.

"We said we were going to stand up and fight and that means you stand up and fight and I got it off my chest at half-time.

"I think we did that fully in the second half, the frustration in the second half is we just almost refused to lock down for periods a pretty simple game plan."

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson told BBC Sport:

"The game was brilliant today wasn't it? It was physical, it was back and forth, there was some really good running in there, for the Exeter team as well.

"Because we had to go through those moments in that second-half where it was 23-19 to us and then 30-26 it readies you, it arms you for games like the semi-finals and finals, which are all close.

"If you can keep your head today, when everyone else is losing theirs, the old Rudyard Kipling poem, you're in such a better place on the back of that, knowing what we can fix from the Leicester game and also knowing what we can do better from today.

"I've been watching Exeter and they should have beat Bath, watched them last weekend and thought they were really good then as well, I know how dangerous they are.

"I'm over the moon for thee boys, we get one more week, one that we want to turn into two more weeks."

Exeter: Hodge; Brown-Bampoe, Slade, Tua, Wyatt; Skinner, Townsend; Blose, Yeandle (capt), Iosefa-Scott, Tuima, Molina, Vermeulen, Capstick, Roots

Replacements: Frost, Sio, Roots, Tshiunza, Moloney, Cairns, Haydon-Wood, Vintcent

Yellow card: Roots (39)

Sale: Carpenter; O'Flaherty, R du Preez, Ma'asi-White, Reed; Ford, Quirke; Rodd, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Van Rhyn, Hill, J-L du Preez, B Curry (capt), D du Preez.

Replacements: McElroy, McIntyre, John, Bamber, Dugdale, Warr, James, Wills.

Yellow card: Ma'asi-White (47), Warr (74)

Referee: Christophe Ridley