Ulster fail to score in heavy defeat to Sale Sharks

Ulster started their Heineken Champions Cup Pool B campaign in disappointing fashion as they slumped to a 39-0 loss over to Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The visitors had to fly over on the morning of the match due to travel issues and struggled to deal with the physicality of their hosts in Salford.

Six different try-scorers crossed for Sale, captain for the day Rob du Preez converting three of them, while their Irish visitors drew a blank on a tough afternoon.

After a tight opening quarter, the hosts soon began to assert their authority on the contest and scored their first try after 23 minutes.

Du Preez started the move before playing a superb inside pass to onrushing winger Arron Reed, who in turn found England international Tom Curry to open the scoring, the flanker dotting down at the second attempt to get his side up and running.

The Sharks needed just three minutes to add a second, scrum-half Gus Warr taking a quick penalty inside the Ulster 22 and offloading to Daniel du Preez, who powered over from close range.

Rob du Preez converted his brother's try before adding a penalty to give Sale a deserved 15-0 lead at the break.

The one-way traffic continued after the restart as Sale continued to dominate physically, scoring their third try of the day through Rob du Preez.

The fly-half saw an attempted pass to Reed blocked by Ulster's Ethan McIlroy before the ball somewhat fortunately fell back into du Preez's hands for him to cross in the corner.

Alex Sanderson's side continued to showcase the strength of their pack by earning regular penalties from scrums and at the breakdown, Bevan Rodd providing a great impact during the hour he was on the field.

The Sharks sealed their bonus point just after the hour mark with a