Champions Cup: Toulon 27-12 Sale Sharks – Bonus-point win keeps Toulon’s hopes alive

• Toulon’s win keeps their hopes of a place in the last eight of the Champions Cup alive

• Sam James’ converted try gave Sale an unexpected 7-5 halftime lead

• Tries from Bryan Habana, Jonathan Pelissie and Josua Tuisova secured the bonus-point win

Toulon had to rely on two late tries to pick up a bonus-point 27-12 win over Sale Sharks in their Champions Cup clash on Sunday.

Sam James’ converted try cancelled out Ma’a Nonu’s opener to give the Sharks an unlikely 7-5 lead heading into the break.

A Leigh Halfpenny penalty and Bryan Habana’s score restored the lead for the three-time champions after the restart.

And although Rob Webber’s try narrowed the gap, Jonathan Pelissie and Josua Tuisova went over in the last two minutes while Sale were down to 14 men.

Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Liam Gill, 5 Samu Manoa, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 Marcel Van Der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Laurent Delboulbès
Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Juan Smith, 20 Matt Giteau, 21 Josua Tuisova, 22 Jonathan Pelissie, 23 Mamuka Gorgodze

Sale: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 13 Will Addison (c), 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Josh Charnley, 10 Sam James, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Laurence Pearce, 7 David Seymour, 6 Magnus Lund, 5 Jonathan Mills, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 James Flynn, 18 Kieran Longbottom, 19 George Nott, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Tom Curry, 22 James Mitchell, 23 Dan Mugford