Foden inspires Sale to emphatic victory

Ben Foden proved an inspired deputy for England wing Mark Cueto with a clinical hat-trick as Sale kick-started their European Cup campaign with a bonus-point 67-11 victory against Italian minnows Calvisano.

The 21-year-old scrumhalf was handed his chance on the right flank due to Cueto nursing an ankle knock and made the most of the opportunity.

The academy product claimed a neat first-half brace and his hat-trick score in the 54th minute handed the Sharks their fourth try and secured a potentially priceless bonus point.

Six further second-half tries confirmed Sale's dominance and went a long way towards erasing the pain of last week's agonising 17-16 injury-time loss to the Ospreys in their Pool Three opener.

Calvisano arrived in Stockport without a European Cup victory in four years, and despite their defiance before the interval, there was never any chance of that sequence ending.

The Sharks used their bench to good effect late on to put themselves in good heart for the potentially decisive double-header with group favourites Stade Francais in December.

Sale stand-off Charlie Hodgson said after the game: "They were a physical side and made life hard for us but fortunately the boys stuck at it and our fitness showed.

"It was good to rack up the scores in the end. Our aim was to bounce back from last week, get the bonus-point and score as many tries as possible.

"It might come down to tries scored in this group. Obviously Stade Francais will be a much harder test next but we will just take each game as it comes."

Calvisano's (former Sale wing) Warren Spragg was happy with his team's efforts: "It was nice to come back and play where I started out. I thought we put on a good show against one of the best teams in Europe.

"We lost it a bit in the last 10 minutes but I am proud of how we competed until then.""

Castres went top of Pool One following a 41-22 victory over Treviso.

Meanwhile, Jonah Lomu has turned down the offer of a one-year contract with Australian National Rugby League (NRL) side Gold Coast Titans, preferring instead to remain in rugby union.

The All Blacks legend recently met Titans managing director Michael Searle, head coach John Cartwright and the club's medical staff to discuss the possibility of switching codes.