Both sides were out of the Pool 3 race heading into Round 6, but the Sharks looked determined to get a victory in this season's competition. Tries from Paulo Odogwu and Will Addison put Sale in a commanding position before DTH van der Merwe's score on the stroke of half-time.

A penalty try brought the Scarlets closer, before Jones landed a penalty to put the Welsh region ahead. But a late AJ MacGinty penalty earned the victory.

Scarlets were caught cold in Salford as the Sharks raced out of the blocks in search of a first Champions Cup triumph. Some heavy pressure resulted in a penalty, which AJ MacGinty converted for a 3-0 lead.

Sale's continued their early dominance and were rewarded with a try moments later. The Sharks backline fixed the Welsh defence and spread the ball wide to Odogwu, who dived in acrobatically at the corner. MacGinty missed the conversion but hit another penalty to make it 11-0 after 20 minutes.

And it was to get even better for the crowd at the AJ Bell Stadium. Addison received the ball in midfield and sliced through the defence before he accelerated away to score from 50 metres out. Dan Jones finally got the Scarlets on the scoreboard with a penalty, before DTH van der Merwe gave the West Walians a lifeline. The ball was worked wide for the Canadian to score, and Jones converted to make it 16-10 at half-time.

MacGinty and Jones traded penalties after the interval, but the US Eagle landed another to put the hosts 22-13 ahead. But the Scarlets bit-back to have Sale fans sweating after 65 minutes. Magnus Lund entered a driving maul from the side after a close-range lineout, and referee Pascal Gauzere awarded a penalty try and sent Lund to the sin-bin. Jones kicked the conversion to pull Wayne Pivac's men back to within two points.

They hit the front for the first time as Jones landed his fifth penalty from five attempts to give the Scarlets a 23-22 advantage. But MacGinty stepped up again to land one of his own to seal Sale's first victory in Europe this season.