Alex Sanderson had challenged his Sale side to show they were not the “whipping boys” of undoubtedly the most brutal pool in this new‑look Champions Cup format, and this was a fairly emphatic response from his players on a bitterly cold afternoon in Salford.
Perfect? Not quite, and Sale may yet rue the opportunities they spurned in a tense first half that led to them missing out on a bonus point by a solitary try. In a pool that includes last year’s finalists, La Rochelle and Leinster, plus the might of Leicester and the Stormers, every point could yet be decisive. But the Premiership leaders did more than enough to see off the challenge of Stade Français here and suggest they certainly have a fighting chance of qualification.
