Curry brothers put the heat on Bristol

SALE’s England boys pulled together to help the Sharks return to winning ways and take a major step towards securing a home Premiership semi-final.

- BEN JAYCOCK

The Curry twins – Ben and Tom – showcased their quality in attack and defence, fly-half George Ford looked back to his best, contributing 21 points in a kicking masterclass, and Manu Tuilagi’s powerful contribution will have forced England head coach Steve Borthwick to take notice.

Bristol struggled for creativity with the absence of their star centre Semi Radradra and this underwhelming display sums up a below par season, with Friday’s defeat all but ending their faint top four hopes.

Sale had won just one of their last four coming into this game but are now only one win away from a home tie in the last four and the Curry brothers were delighted with the victory.

Ben Curry said: “It’s really nice being back together playing again. As a group, results haven’t gone our way so it was important to get a win today so we can kick on.

“It would have been nice to have got five points but fair play to Gus (Warr), Fordy and Rob (du Preez) they controlled the game really well. They put the forwards in the right position, so a lot of credit has to go to them.