Bears had to fight for every moment – Lam

BRISTOL Bears director of rugby Pat Lam gave his players the target of being top of the Gallagher Prem by the end of Friday night - and they delivered with a hard-earned win over Sale Sharks in a titanic battle at Ashton Gate.

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Lam's men were never ahead until the 73rd minute, with a yellow card three minutes earlier for Sale centre Rekeiti Ma'asi White proving to be decisive.

Kalaveti Ravouvou, right, Joe Owen and Matias Moroni were on try-scoring sheet for the Bears, with Tom Jordan and James Williams each kicking a conversion.

Tom O'Flaherty and Ernest van Rhyn crossed for Sale, with George Ford converting both tries and adding a penalty.

Lam said: “We set out that that was effectively a final and we needed to win it to be top of the table as Sale are our bogey team and always seem to be up for this fixture.