Bristol Bears were shut out for the first time in eight years as they crashed to arguably their worst defeat of Pat Lam’s tenure, going down 38-0 to an inspired Sale Sharks.

Having played some of the most sumptuous attacking rugby in the history of the Premiership on the road over the last two rounds of the league, Bristol looked unable to punch their way out of a paper bag against Sale. The Sharks have not won away from home this season, in fact they hadn’t even secured a bonus point, and yet they walked away with all five on Friday night after tries from Raffi Quirke, Tom Roebuck, Ben Curry and Tom O'Flaherty, and 15 points from the boot of Rob du Preez and a drop goal from George Ford.

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Bristol were schooled by Sale who won every physical battle on the park, most notably the scrum, as the visitors dictated the pace of the game with some arch gamesmanship. In a battle of defence against attack, it was comprehensively the suffocating, double-hitting Sharks defence that dominated and successfully sucked all the energy and festive cheer out of Ashton Gate which might have been full with the biggest crowd of the season but was despairingly quiet, shaken by the early onslaught.

England prop Ellis Genge withdrew from Bristol’s starting line-up after suffering a back spasm, while it was confirmed before kick-off that Bears fly-half AJ MacGinty faces four months out due to a knee injury and his young understudy Sam Worsley came up short in his head-to-head with England star Ford.

Sale produced a lightning start, rocking Bristol when Quirke made a blistering break from 35 metres out to claim a superb solo touchdown that Du Preez converted. Sale then suffered an injury blow when centre Luke James departed the action after taking a knock to his shoulder, but it did not disrupt impressive early Sharks momentum as Du Preez kicked a penalty.

Bristol could not get going, and their cause was not helped midway through the first-half when Harry Randall was yellow-carded for pulling back Sale hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie off the ball. Randall had barely left the pitch before Sharks extended their lead courtesy of impressive approach by their forwards that led to Ford freeing Roebuck with a long pass, and he applied a simple finish.

Du Preez’s conversion made it 17-0, before Bristol suffered another injury setback when their top try-scorer Gabriel Ibitoye went off due to an apparent hamstring problem. Ford then underlined Sale’s dominance by landing a drop-goal as the visitors took a 20-point lead with them into the interval.

Bristol could find no way into the contest, and after Du Preez kicked a second penalty, Curry intercepted home skipper Fitz Harding’s speculative pass to cross from close range, and Du Preez’s conversion saw Sale hit 30 points.

He completed his penalty hat-trick midway through the second period, and all Bristol could concentrate on was trying to break their points duck in a game that had seen them emphatically outplayed. Sale had other ideas as they raced to a five-point maximum in thrilling fashion when O’Flaherty broke clear from just outside his own 22, then linked with Quirke before finishing in style.

It said everything about a game when Sale took their chances magnificently, building on rock-solid foundations provided by an imperious defensive display. Bristol, though, were left to reflect on failing to score a point in a Premiership game for the first time since 2016.

Bristol Bears: 15. Rich Lane, 14. Jack Bates, 13. Kalaveti Ravouvou, 12. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11. Gabriel Ibitoye, 10. Sam Worsley, 9. Harry Randall, 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Harry Thacker, 3. Max Lahiff, 4. James Dun, 5. Joe Owen, Steven Luatua, 7. Fitz Harding (c), 8. Viliame Mata

Replacements: 16. Gabriel Oghre, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. George Kloska, 19, Jamie Hodgson, 20. Ben Grondona, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. James Williams, 23. Benjamin Elizalde.

Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Luke James, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Raffi Quirke, 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ernst van Rhyn, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Ben Curry (c), 8. Dan du Preez.

Replacements: 16. Ethan Caine, 17. Si McIntyre, 18. WillGriff John, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. JL du Preez, 21. Gus Warr, 22. Sam Bedlow, 23. Sam Dugdale.

Referee : Adam Leal

Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe and Calum Howard

TMO: Dean Richards

Attendance: 22,215