Robinson saves his best for last

Jason Robinson returned to his best as Sale cruised to a 38-3 Zurich Premiership victory over Newcastle at Heywood Road on Friday. The England full-back has had a quiet season by his standards, but gave a master class in broken-play running, making two fine breaks before scoring one of the tries of the season.

Elsewhere, Bath blamed the heavy conditions for their 20-7 defeat at Leeds which leaves them near the foot of the table, while Munster booked their place in the final of the Celtic League with a comprehensive 42-10 victory over Ulster at a packed Thomond Park. They will play either Neath or Cardiff in the final at the Millennium Stadium on 1 February.

Robinson's try, which started from well inside his own half and saw him shrug off two tackles before sprinting around full-back Jamie Noon, drew a rave review from the Sale coach, Jim Mallinder. "It was outstanding. He was looking to threaten with two or three moves we had done previously so it was fantastic to see him score. He's been a little bit quiet recently but week in, week out he has been one of our best performers. He does so many of the basics a full-back needs to do very well."

Robinson's try epitomised the difference between the two teams: finishing power. The Falcons controlled long spells of the game but never looked like crossing the Sharks' line, with the home side happy to bide their time and take the chances when they arrived.

Powerhouse centre Dan Harris, winger Mark Cueto (2), Robinson and Steve Hanley all touched down for tries as Sale used their backs to blistering effect. Newcastle prop up the Zurich Premiership and trail 11th-placed Bath by six points, despite Bath's defeat at Leeds.

The West Country outfit missed a chance to climb four places in the table after being outplayed by a Tykes team which roared back to form after a run of six league and cup games without a win. The visitors, who suffered a setback with the withdrawal of Iain Balshaw with a calf injury, were trailing 20-0 until scrum-half Gareth Cooper claimed a consolation try.

"It was a disappointing night," admitted joint coach Brian Smith. "We were sloppy in some areas and we paid the price. The sticky wicket probably played into Leeds's hands in as much as they play a very compressed defence. We knew we had opportunities to go around them, but between the 22s it was very treacherous underfoot.

"We will use this as a bit of a kick in the pants. If we were resting on our laurels, we certainly won't be after this."

A first-half try from lock Tom Palmer helped the Yorkshiremen into a 13-0 interval lead, and when flanker Dan Hyde tore away from a rolling maul to touch down early in the second half, there was no way back for Bath.

The Tykes would have won even more comfortably had Braam Van Straaten not missed three of his seven kicks at goal, but director of rugby Phil Davies was delighted at the way his side returned to winning ways. Davies, whose side completed the double over Bath to remain in third place, had the added satisfaction of watching England A scrum-half Scott Benton in action again.

Before the game, Benton had played less than 10 minutes' rugby this season after breaking his ankle on his comeback from a back injury in October, but he went on for the last quarter and quickly settled into his old rhythm.