Glasgow beat Sale 47-27 for Champions Cup bonus point after Andrews tribute

Glasgow Warriors trailed by 12 points inside 10 minutes but went on to win 47-27 away to Sale Sharks in Pool 1 of the Champions Cup on Saturday 17 October. Before kick-off the ground fell silent for a minute in memory of former Sale lock Hyron Andrews, and there were tears among both players and fans.

Andrews, a former Junior Springbok lock, died on Friday 16 October at the Johannesburg Lions' team hotel, before the Lions were due to play La Rochelle in the same competition. He was 31, played regularly for Sale over two seasons and moved back to South Africa in the summer.

"His impact and what he gave off the field was far more from what he gave on it. It is still really raw to process," said Alex Sanderson.

Sale start fast, then lose two to the bin

Sale Sharks began strongly, with Ben Curry and Arron Reed scoring early tries for a 12-0 lead. Glasgow hit back through their maul, which won a penalty try and cost Sale scrum-half Gus Warr ten minutes in the sin-bin. Tom Roebuck soon joined him for tripping Glasgow captain Kyle Steyn.

Glasgow made the most of the extra players. Steyn and Jamie Dobie both scored, and the visitors led 21-15 at half-time.

Sale kept it close after the break, and a try from Rekeiti Ma'asi-White brought them within four points. Glasgow then pulled clear late on, with tries from Rory Darge, replacement Ollie Smith and Ottavio Tuipulotu. Those tries also secured an additional bonus point. A new rule in this season's tournament gives an extra point to any side that scores three more tries than its opponents.

"We will enjoy this as we know how tough Sale are to beat here," said Darge.

A familiar fixture and what comes next

The two clubs also met in last season's pool stage. Glasgow came back from 14 points down that day to win 26-21, on their way to winning every pool game with a bonus point. Their run then ended with a quarter-final defeat to Toulon at Scotstoun.

Round two is in December. Glasgow host Pau, while Sale travel to Dublin to face Leinster. Follow the weekend's rugby results and upcoming rugby fixtures on RuckBee.