Sale lost their first game under new coach Paul Deacon as they were defeated 26-14 by Toulon in the Heineken Champions Cup.
Toulon fly-half Luis Carbonell – who made his international debut for France in November – was impressive from the tee, scoring 16 points for the hosts.
One stand-out moment from the match saw former Italy captain Sergio Parisse burst through before pulling off an offload of the highest quality to set up a try.