• Sale 25-15 La Rochelle• Visitors shown one red card and two yellows
It is a long way from Yokohama to Salford but for England’s Tom Curry the backdrop is incidental. The outstanding flanker was the deserved man of the match on his return to club action as Sale reinvigorated their European Champions Cup challenge at the expense of an ill-disciplined La Rochelle, undeterred even by the moment of madness that meant the visiting hooker Pierre Bourgarit was shown a red card for eye-gouging.
Given La Rochelle had two other forwards shown yellow cards either side of half-time and were down to 13 men for 17 minutes, Sale probably should have won by a wider margin but there was no doubting Curry’s relentless commitment before cramp crept up on him in the closing stages.