Kick off came in Perpignan at 7.15 on a warm sunny evening, with a gusty wind. About ten minutes in came a line out on Perpignan's 5m line, and from the resulting maul Perpignan put the first points on the board with a try.

Larrachaea eased the gap three minutes later when Sale were awarded a penalty for offside and he kicked for three.

Ben Foden made a lovely long run, breaking through the Perpignan defence, but was brought down, with no support in sight.

New boy Lobbe soon came on for the first time in a Sale shirt, as a replacement for John Carter, who had taken a knock.

Jason Robinson made another classic break - he's still got the magic. Another penalty for offside saw Larrachaea kick Sale into the lead 5-6 as the first Quarter came to a close.

At 34 minutes Perpignan scored their second try, when the Sale defense were slow to get back - 12-6.

Again it was Larrachaea who scored for Sale, when they were awarded a penalty for hands in the ruck - 12-9

As the second quarter came to a close the visting Sale supporters got a taste of what they were there to see when, followomg some great set-up play by both Robinson and Ripol, Mayor crossed the line for a try. As Larrachaea's conversion felw between the posts, the half ended 12-16.

Unfortunatley the second half did not last very long, as the light began to fail and the the stadium's floodlights only lit one side of the pitch. Only a few minutes in and the match was called to a halt with the players, bewelidered, still on the pitch.