ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP side Sale sent out an early warning to their Champions Cup rivals as they opened their Pool B matches with a 39-0 thrashing of Irish province Ulster on Sunday.
Tom Curry and Daniel Du Preez both went over in the first half at the Salford City Stadium to give Sale a 15-0 lead at the break.
But the home side really turned it on in the second half as fly-half Robert du Preez, replacements Tom Curtis and Byron McGuigan, and wing Aaron Reed all skated through.
Sale’s six tries ensured they also take a bonus point from the game.
The 24 teams are divided into two pools of 12 but each team only plays two others, home and away, with the top eight in each pool progressing to the last 16.
The format of the competition has changed this year with the inclusion for the first time of South African franchises alongside Europe’s finest.
Later on Sunday in Pool B, two-time European champions Munster host French giants Toulouse at Thomond Park in Limerick while Leicester travel to Swansea to take on Welsh unit Ospreys.
In Pool A, English Premiership leaders Saracens are at home to Edinburgh.
