Leicester set sights on top two after running riot at Sale to seal Prem playoff place

This emphatic bonus-point win was another forcible reminder that Leicester are on the march again, with the Tigers consummately professional, ruthlessly efficient and clinical with the chances that came their way.

Whether or not they can go on to reach the Prem Rugby final and lift the trophy on 20 June remains to be seen, but that they are heading in the right direction under Geoff Parling’s guidance is undeniable.

Leicester, overflowing with self-belief and a collective desire, had to settle for seven tries but they might have scored more on a day when they secure a playoff place with two games to spare

Now they have a top-two finish and a home semi-final in their sights, which seems likely to be decided when they head to Bath on the final day in a shootout for second place with Northampton favourite to finish top.

Parling’s men, still bubbling from their 41-17 home win over Saints Northampton eight days earlier, oozed confidence from the off as they made hay in the sunshine. They were 28-12 up and in total control at the break, the bonus point secured with first-half tries from the captain Ollie Chessum, Jamie Blamire, Joaquin Moro and Joe Heyes on his 100th Leicester start.

For Sale this season cannot end soon enough. Alex Sanderson’s side are the only team to have reached the playoffs in each of the previous three seasons. Yet the 2025-26 campaign has been one of major regression, a pronounced let down for a club who have not won a major trophy since their solitary Premiership title success in 2006.

Not much has gone right for Sale since they so gloriously toppled Leicester at a rain-soaked Twickenham almost 20 years ago under the guidance of Philippe Saint-Andre. This latest setback saw them lose four successive home games for the first time in their Prem history and marked their seventh defeat in their last eight matches.

Ollie Chessum opens the scoring for Leicester. Photograph: Colorsport/Barry Mitchell/Shutterstock

Leicester’s forwards had a field day and two of them combined for the opening score with less than two minutes played. Hanro Liebenberg embarked on a marauding run in the left channel before finding Ollie Hassell-Collins, who showed intelligence to send Chessum galloping over the line.

The England lock was celebrating even before he touched down and from there the Tigers did not look back.

Boosted by the return of Tom Curry after a calf injury for his first Sale appearance since January, the hosts fashioned an initially impressive response. George Ford, Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, Joe Carpenter and Tom O’Flaherty were all involved in a move which culminated in England wing Tom Roebuck scoring in the eighth minute.

Leicester, though, were largely dominant and their forward supremacy harvested close-range tries for Blamire and Moro, the latter coming after O’Flaherty tried to pass his way out of trouble inside his own in-goal area.

Sale had bursts of momentum and a quick penalty-tap from Raffi Quirke created the space for flanker Jacques Vermeulen to crash over the line, but it was another false dawn.

Leicester began knocking on Sale’s door again and the irrepressible Heyes barged through more flimsy defending for their fourth try as half-time approached.

Sanderson replaced Quirke with Gus Warr at the break but Leicester continued to fizz with energy, scoring their fifth try two minutes after the interval when Will Wand arrived at pace to ground the ball.

From that point, there was little response from Sale as the Tigers continued to roar. Their sixth try arrived in the 55th minute and it was a beautifully-worked effort as Orlando Bailey, who replaced the injured James O’Connor early on, found Adam Radwan before his exquisite long pass sent Hassell-Collins over in the left corner.

Five minutes later, Archie van der Flier was on hand to touch down inside the right channel and suddenly Sale looked ripe to be trounced again. The 85-19 defeat to Saracens in their previous home outing will leave deep scars on Sanderson and his players but this was another all-too-familiar capitulation.

Leicester broke through Sale’s defence at will and spurned a couple of very presentable opportunities to extend their lead.

The hosts then restored a semblance of respectability with tries from captain Ernst van Rhyn, flanker Sam Dugdale and Arron Reed in the final quarter to secure a losing bonus point and soften the lop-sided scoreline.