Sale Sharks have crashed out of the European Challenge Cup as a result of a 25-19 defeat at the hands of Montpellier this evening.
The visitors relied heavily on penalties to build a head of steam, before holding on at the end to seal their passage through to the last four of the competition.
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Danny Cipriani opened the scoring when kicking over 11 minutes in, but Paul Willemse soon crashed over from close range for Montpellier's only try of the night following some intense pressure.
Benoit Paillaugue made no mistake from the follow-up attempt, while also adding three more points from a pen just two minutes after that breakthrough at the AJ Bell Stadium.
It was to be Sale who took the lead into the interval thanks to winger Tom Brady, who crossed over in the final 10 minutes of the half to keep the scoreline very narrow at the midway stage.
Paillaugue added five successful penalty attempts to his tally in the second 40, though, either side of Cipriani's own three-point haul, to put the Top 14 side in control.
Thibaut Privat was shown a yellow on the hour to potentially act as a pivotal moment in the game, but it took until six minutes from time for Sam James to gather the ball and cross the whitewash.
That proved to be too little too late in the end, as Montpellier saw out the remaining time to end their opponents' unbeaten home record and progress through in the process.
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