Toulon keep Euro hopes alive

Their 27-12 triumph means they are now within five points of Pool Three leaders Saracens and will head to Allianz Park in Round Six with an outside chance of overtaking the reigning champions. With 15 points, they will need to take something out of the game to stand any chance of reaching the last eight.

A yellow card handed out to Sale Sharks replacement prop Kieran Longbottom in the 76th minute by Irish referee George Clancy for a dangerous tackle proved crucial as it allowed Toulon to score the two tries they needed to clinch the bonus point.

No sooner had Longbottom gone off the field than replacement scrumhalf Jonathan Pelissie scampered over in the right corner and then Toulon fashioned a bonus point score from deep in their 22 with the final move of the match.

It was started by Josua Tuisova and then finished by him almost in the same spot at which Pelissie scored. The five points took the three-time champions onto 15 points, five behind Saracens, who had been held to a draw by the Scarlets earlier in the day, and give them an outside chance of winning the pool by outscoring Saracens 5-0 on match points and winning the head-to-head equation.

Other than that, they need to win, draw or at least pick up a bonus point to stay in the hunt for a last eight place. For Sale, the sting in the tail meant they cashed to a 16th successive defeat in the tournament and a 10th in a row in all games this season.

Sale were out of the running before the game started having lost all four pool matches before arriving at Stade Felix Mayol. But they played without fear and led for long periods thanks to a brilliant solo try from Sam James in the first half.

It was a huge contrast to their last visit to Toulon, when they conceded nine tries in a record 62 point defeat. Toulon got off to a flying start with Ma'a Nonu's first Champions Cup try coming in only the second minute.

Leigh Halfpenny couldn't add the extras and that gave the Sharks the chance to bite back with a thrilling kick and chase try from James. The outside half chipped over the first line of defence on half-way, beat three Toulon players by regathering the wicked bounce and then raced to the posts for a try which acting skipper Will Addison converted.

Addison had the chance to increase the lead with a penalty, but was wide, yet the underdogs were still 8-7 ahead at the break – and good value for their lead! Toulon picked up the pace at the start of the second half and Halfpenny put them ahead with a 43rd minute penalty.

Bryan Habana then increased the lead with a try on the hour and Halfpenny's conversion made it 15-7. The home fans hoped that would be the catalyst for an avalanche of tries, but instead Sale hit back with a perfect driving line-out try from hooker Rob Webber to cut the gap to three points.

Then came the late charge from Toulon to set up a fantastic finish against Saracens in Round Six.

The scorers:

For Toulon:

Tries: Nonu, Habana, Pelissie, Tuisova

Cons: Halfpenny 2

Pen: Halfpenny

For Sale:

Tries: James, Webber

Con: Addison

Yellow Cards: Kieran Longbottom (Sale Sharks); Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon)

Teams: 

Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Liam Gill, 5 Samu Manoa, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 Marcel Van Der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Laurent Delboulbès.

Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Juan Smith, 20 Matt Giteau, 21 Josua Tuisova, 22 Jonathan Pelissie, 23 Mamuka Gorgodze.

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 13 Will Addison (captain), 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Josh Charnley, 10 Sam James, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Laurence Pearce, 7 David Seymour, 6 Magnus Lund, 5 Jonathan Mills, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison.

Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 James Flynn, 18 Kieran Longbottom, 19 George Nott, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Tom Curry, 22 James Mitchell, 23 Dan Mugford.

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Assistant Referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Ken Imbusch (Ireland)

TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

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