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Sale Sharks 19-85 Saracens: Noah Caluori scores five tries in Prem rout
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Noah Caluori scored five of Saracens' 13 tries as they obliterated Sale Sharks The Prem Sale (0) 19 Tries: O'Flaherty (2), Opoku-Fordjour Cons: Ford (2) Saracens (38) 85 Tries: Segun, Caluori (5), Willis, Carre, Burke, Bracken, Michelow, Malins, Earl Cons: Burke (8), Farrell (2) A Noah Caluori-inspired Saracens gave their Prem play-off hopes a much-needed boost with a 13-try 85-19 victory over a wretched Sale Sharks at the CorpAcq Stadium. The flying winger equalled the five tries he scored against the Sharks in the reverse fixture back in October, extending his lead at the top of the league's try-scoring charts to seven scores. Sale were a shadow of their earlier selves in defence, conceding six first-half tries to Rotimi Segun, Tom Willis, Rhys Carre, Fergus Burke and a brace for Caluori as the visitors dominated all aspects of the game. Sharks finally got on the board through Tom O'Flaherty and Asher Opoku-Fordjour after the break, but further scores from Caluori, Charlie Bracken, Nathan Michelow, Max Malins and Ben Earl ensured their largest ever defeat in the league. 'Lost for words', 'England, get him in' - how good is five-try Caluori? With Sale out of play-off contention, a win was vital for Saracens to have any chance of catching Exeter Chiefs, 14 points ahead in fourth at the start of the day, and their intent was clear from the first whistle. Having made an initial foray into Sharks' territory, Segun was fed by Olly Hartley before stepping back inside to leave would-be tacklers Gus Warr and Rob du Preez clutching at thin air. Sale's defensive frailty was exposed once again with Malins breaking through the home defensive line with ease before the ball went through the hands allowing the Caluori to dot down for his first. Mark McCall's men sensed blood and, following another period of Saracens pressure in the Sale 22, Willis bounced through an initial tackle before stretching out to score. Sale, still looking for their first league win of 2026, were stunned, dominated at the breakdown in the absence of the Curry brothers and Dan du Preez. Rhys Carre used his textbook power to score in the first half Unable to slow Saracens' quick ball, they conceded a fourth try to Carre, the prop powering over after a well worked line-out move. Burke soon added a fifth, escaping yet another poor tackle attempt to kick ahead and regather close to the posts. On the verge of half-time, the tries just kept on coming. With the tiring Sale defence in disarray, Malins fed Calouri on the wing to dive over Warr's despairing tackle to leave Sharks boss Alex Sanderson with much to consider at the break. With the game gone, Sale knew they had to score next to restore any semblance of pride. Following quick hands in the midfield between Ernst van Rhyn and Ethan Caine, the ball ended up in the hands of O'Flaherty, who bounced through three defenders to stretch over. But it did not take Saracens long to reassert their dominance. Bracken added a seventh before Caluori took over the game, intercepting du Preez in midfield for his hat-trick score before adding a further two tries in the corner as Sale's missed tackle count reached 40. With Sale's defence a non-entity at this point, Michelow spun through as Saracens crossed the 70-point mark before Malins got Sarries' 12th score, diving on the ball after O'Flaherty dropped it in his own 22. Earl then bagged yet another Saracens score in between Sale consolations from O'Flaherty and Opoku-Fordjour to cap a historic afternoon for Mark McCall's men. The result leaves Saracens in sixth, five points below Bristol in fifth while Sale stay seventh, with very little chance of being able to catch those above them. Sale: R du Preez; O'Flaherty, Louw, Ma'asi-White, Roebuck; Ford, Warr; Opoku-Fordjour, Caine, Harper; van Rhyn (c), Bamber, Vermuelen, Gilmore, Dugdale. Replacements: Longstaff, McEachran, Raymont, Hodkinson, Logan, Hanson, Bedlow, Woodman. Saracens: Malins; Caluori, Tompkins, Hartley, Segun; Burke, Bracken; Carre, George, Street; Itoje (c), Tizard, McFarland, Earl, Willis. Replacements: Dan, Mawi, Riccioni, Wilson, Michelow, van Zyl, Farrell, Hall. Referee: Christophe Ridley. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browser