Louis Rees-Zammit double helps Bristol spoil Courtney Lawes' Sale debut in 34-24 win

Courtney Lawes’ much-anticipated return to Premiership rugby ended in disappointment on Saturday as Bristol Bears beat Sale Sharks 34-24 at the AJ Bell Stadium, with Louis Rees-Zammit and Harry Randall each scoring twice to give Pat Lam’s side a comfortable opening-day victory.

The 37-year-old back row, who captained Northampton to the Premiership title at Twickenham in 2024 before spending two seasons with French club Brive, started for Sale alongside fellow debutant Xavier Roe — a scrum-half recruited from New Zealand. It was a promising enough beginning for the Sharks, who drew first blood through hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie after good work from Roe, with George Ford converting to make it 7-0.

Bristol, however, quickly found their rhythm. Rees-Zammit crossed in the right corner twice in the opening 23 minutes, with James Williams converting both and adding a penalty of his own. Randall then dived over just before half-time to give the Bears a 20-10 lead at the interval.

Sale threatened a comeback early in the second half when winger Tom O’Flaherty raced clear to score, with Ford’s conversion cutting the deficit to three points. But Bristol reasserted control when Randall sniped over for his second try in the 57th minute, and O’Flaherty’s second score for Sale proved only a consolation as Tomas Gwilliam powered over late on to seal the result. Williams finished with 14 points from the tee.

Sale’s three new Wales internationals — props Nicky Smith and Tomas Francis, and versatile forward Christ Tshiunza — all started on the bench, while Bristol were without flanker Ethan Staddon, who suffered an ACL injury before the game. Kalaveti Ravouvou and Noah Heward were also sidelined for the visitors, though Argentina lock Pedro Rubiolo returned from injury to feature for the first time since January.

Former Sale fly-half AJ MacGinty, now lining up for Bristol, missed an early penalty that could have changed the complexion of the contest, but the Bears ultimately had little trouble seeing out a result that will give Lam’s squad confidence heading into the weeks ahead.