Sale Sharks have reached the Premiership Rugby Cup final after thrashing Saracens 28-7 at the AJ Bell Stadium.
The win was set up by tries from Denny Solomona, Will Cliff, Ben Curry and Akker van der Merwe – meaning that the Sharks remain unbeaten in the competition this season and will welcome Harlequins to Salford for what will be their first final since 2013.
Director of Rugby Steve Diamond made three changes from the side that defeated Exeter at Sandy Park a fortnight ago and the hosts got off to the best possible start, with Solomona crashing over with less than two minutes on the clock.
Sale continued to dominate. Tries from Cliff and Curry in the space of four minutes later in the half made the score 21-0 – meaning that there were more points on the board than minutes played.
Saracens struggled to build any momentum and failed to register on the score sheet in the first half.
The second half continued in the same fashion as the first, with Sale making life difficult for their visitors. However, Saracens did manage to get a consolation try through replacement Rotimi Segun.
Sale’s leading try scorer in the competition van der Merwe rounded off the victory 15 minutes from time as they restored their 21 point lead.
The defeat for Saracens means that their season is all but over, having been relegated from the Gallagher Premiership last month after breaching the league’s salary cap. Their only hope of silverware will be in the Heineken Champions Cup, although they’ll have to get past a strong Leinster side in the quarter-final.
Both sides return to Premiership action next weekend and they face each other at Allianz Park. Sale will be looking to continue their fine run of form as they look to reach the semi-finals.
Image credit: Sale Sharks
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