Lobbe inspires Sharks victory

The Argentinian back-rower crossed twice as the Sharks chalked up four tries and England duo Mark Cueto and Charlie Hodgson also touched down as Wasps could only muster a solitary Dave Walder penalty.

The Sharks were in predatory form, twice pouncing on Wasps errors to erase memories of their last-gasp defeat to Bath last weekend and get their Guinness Premiership title hopes firmly back on track.

Cueto was looking dangerous after eight minutes, fielding the ball on his own 22 before chipping the Wasps line and collecting only to miss the pass outside to David Doherty.

But it was not long before Sale made their pressure tell. Dean Schofield, on the loop, drew defenders before releasing to Neil Briggs who found Fernandez Lobbe to touchdown.

They did not have to wait long for the second score as Cueto cleared to the 10-metre line and, with the ball bobbling towards touch, Wasps academy replacement Chris Bishay jumped over it - not realising Doherty was bearing down on him. Doherty collected and passed inside to Cueto who showed he still has the pace of old to run in under the sticks before Walder notched Wasps' only points of the afternoon.

Richard Wigglesworth's pass then bounced off Joe Worsley, allowing quick-thinking Charlie Hodgson to collect the ball and dart in under the posts. Hodgson's penalty extended Sale's lead 10 minutes into the second half as they continued to dominate, forcing Wasps to commit men at breakdown and engineering space for their superior backs to operate.

Sale rang the changes, bringing on Carl Fearns and Andrew Sheridan to shore up the pack, and Dwayne Peel replaced the impressive Richard Wigglesworth at scrum-half.

Oriol Ripol, back from a broken arm sustained against Cardiff Blues, also provided a cutting edge for the Sharks in the second half.

Sale pressed for another try in the closing stages, kicking for the corner after Wasps had conceded a penalty 25 metres out. After holding up one drive the Wasps pack folded at the resulting scrum, conceding the penalty. While the Wasps defence stood still, Fernandez Lobbe took the quick penalty and dived for the line to notch his second score of the day as the Sharks got back to winning ways in style.