Bristol Bears were shut out for the first time in eight years as they crashed to arguably their worst defeat of Pat Lam’s tenure, going down 38-0 to an inspired Sale Sharks. Having played some of the most sumptuous attacking rugby in the history of the Premiership on the road over the last two rounds of the league, Bristol looked unable to punch their way out of a paper bag against Sale. The Sharks have not won away from home this season, in fact they hadn’t even secured a bonus point, and yet they walked away with all five on Friday night after tries from Raffi Quirke, Tom Roebuck, Ben Curry and Tom O'Flaherty, and 15 points from the boot of Rob du Preez and a drop goal from George Ford.
READ MORE: Bristol Bears 0-38 Sale Sharks LIVE: Full reaction from shock one-sided defeat Bristol were schooled by Sale who won every physical battle on the park, most notably the scrum, as the visitors dictated the pace of the game with some arch gamesmanship. In a battle of defence against attack, it was comprehensively the suffocating, double-hitting Sharks defence that dominated and successfully sucked all the energy and festive cheer out of Ashton Gate which might have been full with the biggest crowd of the season but was despairingly quiet, shaken by the early onslaught. England prop Ellis Genge withdrew from Bristol’s starting line-up after suffering a back spasm, while it was confirmed before kick-off that Bears fly-half AJ MacGinty faces four months out due to a knee injury a.