The Prem
Bath (19) 36
Tries: Arundell, De Glanville, Cokanasiga 2, Hennessey Cons: Russell 4 Pens: Russell
Sale (7) 28
Tries: Jibulu, O’Flaherty, Cowan-Dickie, Canakaivata Cons: Ford 4
Joe Cokanasiga scored twice as Bath ended a three-game winless run in all competitions with victory over Sale.
Henry Arundell, Tom de Glanville and Louis Hennessey also got on the scoreboard for the hosts as they took a maximum of five points to go into the international break on a high.
Nathan Jibulu and Tom O’Flaherty crossed for Sale and they were largely outclassed until the final 10 minutes when Luke Cowan-Dickie and Elia Canakaivata added late tries, to ensure the Sharks at least left the Recreation Ground with a point.
The result is the third loss of the campaign for Sale and means they go into the international break eighth, while Bath move up to fourth.
Bath have been hit by a raft of injuries to their backline in the early part of the season and while they are now without Santiago Carreras for the rest of the campaign, De Glanville and Arundell’s return from injuries proved timely.
Arundell needed less than three minutes to bag a try on his first Prem game of the season when he charged through a gap on halfway and used his speed to race into the corner.
Sale then enjoyed their best spell of pressure until the end of the game although were unable to turn frequent entries into Bath’s 22 into more than one try.
Prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour was turned over a few metres out and Joe Carpenter dropped a long pass when he had acres of space ahead, before Jibulu brought them level carrying over from the back of a maul.
De Glanville restored Bath’s lead, as the hosts switched direction across the pitch from a line-out and the full-back dashed through a gap when Tom Roebuck slipped trying to make a tackle.
Cokanasiga added their third with a well-worked team try started when Arundell caught a high ball on halfway, and they whipped it quickly through their backs, and in a two-on-one with De Glanville, Cokanasiga had a simple finish.
The wing had his second and Bath’s bonus-point fourth immediately into the second half, when he jumped to catch Russell’s cross-field kick, side-stepped past Alex Lozowski and stretched over under a tackle.
O’Flaherty replied minutes later at the other end with a superb one-handed dive into the corner as Sale looked for a way back in.
A Russell penalty stretched Bath 15 points clear and Hennessey ran on to a Bernard van der Linde grubber kick a minute after coming on to all-but seal victory.
Yet Sale rallied to end the game on top, with Cowan-Dickie barging through before Canakaivata grabbed another try in the final minute to give Sale a point.
Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Ojomoh, Arundell; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Frost, Griffin, Jeanes, Ewels, Hill, Reid, Bayliss.
Replacements: Dunn, Wheeler, Stuart, Opoku-Gyamfi, Richards, Van Der Linde, Hennessey, Coetzee.
Sale: Carpenter; Roebuck, Marchant, Lozowski, O’Flaherty; Ford, Warr; Smith, Jibulu, Opoku-Fordjour, Van Rhyn (c), Bamber, Tshiunza, B. Curry, T. Curry.
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, McIntyre, Francis, Burrow, Dugdale, Hanson, Ma’asi-White, Canakaivata.
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe