Cipriani inspires Sale resurgence

Heineken Cup round-up:Danny Cipriani was Sale'shero as the Premiership strugglers overturned a 27-12 deficit to gain a dramatic, morale-boosting 34-33 triumph over Cardiffon their return to the Heineken Cup.

The Sharks were trailing by 15 points when Cipriani, making his way back from injury and illness, was introduced from the bench after 49 minutes and he scored one try and created another as Bryan Redpath’s men went on to snatch a breathless victory.

Sale gained a 27-26 win over the Blues in their last Heineken Cup campaign at Edgeley Park three years ago and Redpath will be hoping today’s repeat victory, their first at the new Salford City Stadium, will kick-start their season after opening with six straight defeats.

Cardiff, who played all but five minutes of the match without Sam Warburton due to injury, were still leading 30-24 when they were reduced to 14 men with the sin-binning of replacement Lewis Jones seven minutes from the end.

And the extra man advantage proved crucial as former Munster prop Tony Buckley was driven over for the match-winning try a minute later, although the Sharks were hanging on in the end after Leigh Halfpenny’s seventh goal from as many attempts had cut the gap to a solitary point.

The outcome was tough on Wales winger Alex Cuthbert, whose first-half hat-trick of tries looked to have put his side on their way to victory.

The Blues, who went into the game on the back of consecutive defeats in the RaboDirect Pro12, suffered an early blow Warburton went off after just five minutes with a dislocated finger.

The Wales captain, who was returning to the side from a hand injury, was in hospital as his team-mates established a 24-9 interval lead, largely due to the efforts of Cuthbert, the 22-year-old hero of Wales’ Grand Slam-winning team of last season.

Northamptonsurvived a major scare against Glasgowat Franklin's Gardens before launching their campaign in bonus point fashion to join Ulster on five points at the top of Pool Four.

The Saints, tournament runners-up to Leinster in 2010, trailed 15-0 before they turned the clash on its head through three tries in six minutes either side of half-time.

Centre George Pisi touched down twice, while outhalf Stephen Myler’s try just after the break nudged Northampton ahead for the first time before former Leinster Academy player Vasily Artemyev sealed it with a try.

Myler and Ryan Lamb each booted a conversion to help wipe out an alarming deficit as Saints conceded tries to Glasgow flanker Josh Strauss and wing Sean Lamont after centre Peter Horne kicked an early penalty and converted Strauss’s try.

Myler, though, missed four shots at goal that could easily have proved costly, and there is a lot for Saints to work on before they tackle Castres in France next Friday night.

Glasgow did not even gain the consolation of a losing bonus point, but they will feel that should have been the minimum return from their journey south.