Sale’s hopes of a Heineken Cup quarter-final spot virtually disappeared against Stade Francais at Stade Jean-Bouin in round 3.

The French side ran in three first-half tries to take a stranglehold of the game, but a brave Sharks side dug deep in the second spell to ensure Stade didn’t run away with the result. A Sebastien Chabal intercept try narrowed the margin to 20-16, but Sale ran out of steam in the final 10 minutes.

The match was played in front of 45,000 fans – the biggest-ever crowd for a Heineken Cup pool match.

The injury-stricken Sharks kept the home side at bay in the early exchanges and were the first side to trouble the scorers, fly-half Daniel Larrechea slotting a 15th-minute penalty goal, but their lead lasted barely 30 seconds as winger Christophe Dominici danced down the touchline to score.

Fellow winger Julien Soubade kept the crowd on their feet with a dazzling individual try as Stade began to take control of the match, and things went from bad to worse for Sale when Test winger Mark Cueto limped off the field.

Sharks centre Lee Thomas took over the goal-kicking duties after Larrechea was battered in a heavy tackle, and promptly slotted a long-range penalty to double the visitors’ score.

Dominici scored in the same corner as his first effort to stretch the lead, and Stade Francais took a deserved 17-6 lead into the halftime break.

Thomas’ second goal narrowed the margin to eight points midway through the second half, but Stade replacement Lionel Beauxis slotted a superb long-range effort to keep the Sharks at bay.

Stade Francais threw everything at the Sharks’ line to get a bonus-point try, but it backfired disastrously when No 8 Chabal grabbed an intercept and raced 50 metres to score under the posts.

But just as Sale looked to have secured a hugely deserved bonus point – if not a shock victory – Soubade came up with an interception of his own to put the result beyond doubt.