The hosts made the brighter start. Luke Cowan-Dickie crossed after seven minutes before George Ford added the conversion.

Bristol responded almost immediately. Louis Rees-Zammit was found in the wide channel with acres of space and strolled over. James Williams missed the conversion, keeping Sale ahead.

A Bristol penalty inside their own 22 then gave Ford the chance to extend Sale’s advantage, making it 10-5.

Rees-Zammit soon had his second. It was almost a carbon copy of his first, with Bristol’s forwards doing the heavy work before giving the winger the whole of Manchester to run into.

Williams again missed the conversion, leaving the scores level.

The Bristol centre finally got off the mark from the tee soon after, punishing Sale’s ill-discipline to give the Bears the lead.

Pat Lam’s side then had the final say of the first half. On the stroke of half-time, Harry Randall crossed from close range before Williams added the extras.

That gave Bristol a 20-10 advantage at the break.

Sale started the second half as the stronger side and needed just two minutes to strike.

A hack through from Alex Lozowski set up the foot race everyone wanted: Arron Reed against Rees-Zammit.

The Scotsman came out on top before Sale recycled possession. Ford then put Tom O’Flaherty away to score, with the fly-half's conversion cutting Bristol’s lead to three.

The Bears soon restored their 10-point advantage.

After camping on the Sale line, a powerful Benhard Janse van Rensburg carry created space for Randall to snipe against the grain and score his second of the afternoon.

Williams added the conversion.

Sale hit back as the game entered its final stages. Joe Carpenter and Reed combined to put new signing Elia Canakaivata into space.

After he was brought down, Sale kept the tempo high and eventually created the opening for O’Flaherty to grab his second.

Ford maintained his perfect record from the tee to make it 27-24.

However, Bristol had the final say.

Tomas Gwilliam, sitting at the back of a powerful Bears maul, forced his way over from close range.

Williams added the conversion to complete a 34-24 win for the visitors.

Tries: Cowan-Dickie 7’, O’Flaherty 42’, 68’

Conversions: Ford 8’, 43’, 69’

Penalties: Ford 16’

Tries: Rees-Zammit 13’, 24’, Randall 39’, 56’, Gwilliam 73’

Conversions: Williams 40’, 57’, 74’

Penalties: Williams 32’

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson had plenty to reflect on after a disappointing home defeat on the opening weekend.

“At times, wildly frustrating watching from the sidelines with some poor leading accuracies with the ball, especially with our exits,” said Sanderson.

With eight players in Sale’s matchday squad having joined the club over the summer, there were some understandable cohesion issues and early-season teething problems.

Those will need to be addressed quickly ahead of their trip to Saracens.

A notable omission from the squad was England winger Tom Roebuck, who picked up a calf strain during the week.

However, the 25-year-old is expected to be back in a Sale jersey soon.

Joining Luke James in the physio room this week could be Rekeiti Ma’asi-White.

The young centre was forced off early in the first half after appearing to struggle to put weight through his knee.

Sale will send him for a scan, but for now he looks a doubt for next Saturday’s trip to north London.

1. Bevan Rodd – 72. Luke Cowan-Dickie – 83. Asher Opoku-Fordjour – 84. Ernst van Rhyn (c) – 65. Ben Bamber – 66. Courtney Lawes – 67. Tom Curry – 78. Jacques Vermeulen – 89. Xavier Roe – 810. George Ford – 711. Arron Reed – 812. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White – 613. Joe Marchant – 714. Tom O’Flaherty – 815. Joe Carpenter – 8

16. Nathan Jibulu – 717. Nicky Smith – 818. Tomas Francis – 719. Christ Tshuinza – 720. Sam Dugdale – 721. Gus Warr – N/A22. Alex Lozowski – 823. Elia Canakaivata – 8

1. Ellis Genge – 72. Gabriel Oghre – 63. George Kloska – 64. Pedro Rubiolo – 65. Joe Batley – 76. Joe Owen – 67. Luka Ivanishvili – 68. Fitz Harding (c) – 79. Harry Randall – 810. AJ MacGinty – 511. Gabriel Ibitoye – 612. James Williams – 713. Benhard Janse van Rensburg – 814. Louis Rees-Zammit – 815. Tom Jordan – 8

16. Tomas Gwilliam – 717. Jake Woolmore – 618. Lovejoy Chawatama – 619. George Taylor – N/A20. Steven Luatua – 621. Kieran Marmion – 622. Max Pepper – 723. Benjamin Grondona – 6

Granted, the Sale full-back is competing with Leicester’s Freddie Steward and Harlequins recruit George Furbank for England’s No.15 shirt, but Carpenter showed his class here.

He was a menace under the high ball, showed frighteningly good footwork and consistently timed his attacking runs well.

A seriously impressive performance.

Everyone knows what Ellis Genge does. Trying to stop him is a different story.

The England prop was throwing people around all over the park and once again showed why he remains such a major option for Steve Borthwick.

He also caught George Ford with a proper rib-tickler. No love lost between those two England veterans.

Having joined Sale this season, Lozowski made his appearance earlier than expected after replacing Rekeiti Ma’asi-White at inside centre.

He fitted into the Sharks system seamlessly and played an influential role in O’Flaherty’s first try.

Sanderson also praised him afterwards.

“He looked physical,” said the Sale boss. “He bangs above his weight and I was happy with how he went.”

A lively performance from the Bristol scrum-half.

Randall certainly gave Steve Borthwick and the England set-up something to think about ahead of the autumn internationals.

Two tries capped an excellent individual display.

There were some lovely touches from Van Rensburg, both with ball in hand and off the boot.

It was a more rounded display from a player often known primarily for his carrying threat.

His powerful second-half carry also helped create the opening for Randall’s second try.