Bears Fall 21-19 at Sale

Bristol Bears lost 21-19 to Sale Sharks at the CorpAcq Stadium on Friday night.

The defeat concluded Round Three of the 2026/27 PREM Rugby Cup.

Sale took an early lead when winger Alex Wills crossed untouched in the corner after five minutes.

Bristol dropped to 14 men after Tobi Wilson was sin-binned for killing the ball at a ruck near his own line.

Scottish international Arron Reed scored the Sharks' second try while the visitors were short-staffed.

Ollie Davies converted both tries to give Sale a 14-0 advantage.

Bristol responded from their second visit into the opposition 22-meter area.

Debutant number eight Totoa Auvaa crossed at the back of a driving maul launched from a lineout.

Kickout specialist Sam Worsley missed the conversion, leaving the visitors down 14-5.

Max Pepper scored two tries in the second half for Bristol.

Both scores were close-range opportunist plays after the Bears' forwards pressured the Sale defense.

A drop-out from under Bristol's posts went out on the full before Pepper's second try was scored. This gave Sale a 5-meter attacking scrum. Reed used that set piece to score his second try of the game for the hosts. With under five minutes left, Worsley attempted a 45-meter penalty from wide left to win the match. The kick hit the uprights but fell short of the crossbar. Sale held the lead to secure the victory. Coach Jordan Crane led the squad during the match. He said the team spoke about stacking good moments all week. Crane noted that the side gave up too many easy errors in the first half. He added that the players held the goal line well while down to 14 men. He said they created the opportunity to win in the second half but failed to take it. Henry Pearson refereed the match. Ben Simpson and Gareth Holsgrove served as assistant referees. Sale's captain was Tom Burrow. Josh Caulfield captained Bristol. The Bears traveled from the West Country earlier in the day before the fixture.