Chiefs' winning streak comes to an end

Exeter Chiefs saw their eight-game winning streak brought to an abrupt halt as Sale Sharks gave themselves and their fans an early Christmas present with this hard fought victory.

Steve Diamond’s followed up their April hammering of the Chiefs by again knocking the stuffing out of Rob Baxter’s in-form side at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Second half tries from Mark Cueto and Danny Cipriani – who also added two penalties and a conversion – were enough to sink their Devon rivals on a wet and wild night in the North West.

The Chiefs countered with a try from the free-scoring Thomas Waldrom (pictured) and two penalties Gareth Steenson to ensure at least a losing bonus point, but that was all they could really rejoice about on a dismal night.

Back in top flight action following a two-week intervention for European Challenge Cup duties, the Chiefs arrived in a wet and windy Manchester looking to maintain their winning sequence which stretched to some eight games.

With Baxter claiming pre-game that the fixture heralded the start of a ‘season-defining’ block for his team, it was little surprise that he paraded a powerful line-up that included the division’s top try-scorer (Waldrom) and top points-scorer (Steenson) respectively.

Sale, meanwhile, were also at full-strength after their bruising back-to-back Champions Cup encounters with Saracens. They were led by destructive flanker Dan Braid up front, whilst Cipriani orchestrated things behind in his playmaking role at No.10.

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