Sale sail through against Rotherham

Sale ended Rotherham's Cup hopes with a 20-12 win at Heywood Road.

The wet conditions seemed to suit the visitors better, which meant Sale's first-half tries were always going to be crucial as conditions deteriorated.

Fly half Luke Smith gave Rotherham a seventh-minute lead but Sale hit back with a well-taken try by centre Jos Baxendell after a tremendous surge up the middle by Apollo Perelini.

Nikki Little converted but was off target with two kickable penalty chances and Smith cut the deficit with his second penalty of the afternoon.

Sale had the final word of an evenly-contested half when good pressure ended with winger Matt Moore plunging over between the posts, Little converting to give his side a 14-6 interval lead. Smith popped over two more penalties in the second half, cutting the deficit to two points at one stage, but out-of-sorts Little, who succeeded with only two out of seven attempts, did just enough to set up a quarter-final tie against Waterloo.