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Almost everything is going swimmingly for Bath at this stage. At long last, their much-anticipated stadium upgrade appears set to proceed, and on the field, the champions have secured two victories in two matches after the opening pair of fixtures. With Finn Russell set to reappear in action next week to regain the fly-half baton, it is going to take a exceptionally strong side to steal their crown.

On a wet and windy night in Somerset, however, they were forced to labor intensely by a tenacious Sale team who stuck in the fight and persisted until the end. It was only with the final three minutes that Max Ojomoh crossed the line to score his side’s crucial touchdown to uphold his squad’s perfect start to the campaign.

This was the Sharks’ fourth consecutive setback on their rival’s home turf and the manner of it was largely familiar to previous outings. The home side specializes in applying pressure in the closing stages of games, and here was another example of it. The hosts might have eased the pressure for themselves had they decided to go for an earlier penalty to extend their lead to eight points, but ultimately, the young center had the decisive moment.

The attending England head coach Steve Borthwick had plenty of other players to check out, with the powerful center and the rapid winger also looking keen to catch his eye. the Sharks’ hooker scored a second-half try and is clearly a young player on the rise, while the game management and pinpoint boots of the calm the veteran fly-half were notable in difficult weather.

Ford’s performance was exceptional for the visitors despite the defeat.

It was another of those sodden nights when a shelter on the open interim structure would have protected drenched spectators. Their tickets can still be priced at a hundred pounds, but a relief is close at hand. After years of disputes, planning permission has been awarded for an 18,000-spectator stadium, with international authorities and the government minister having given the decision their blessing.

That merely leaves Bath waiting for official documentation, which the club are confident will be secured within a few months. And when Bath do at last own their own waterside arena to complement their extraordinarily player resources, life is going to become more challenging for away sides.

Not that Sale were in any disposition to be frightened in a hard-fought if slightly staccato first half. Bath were unfortunate to lose their international forward Charlie Ewels to a knock inside the first ten minutes, and the Sharks’ scrum also made some early headway. It was Bath, though, who showed resilience and notched the game’s opening touchdown, just when Sale were threatening they were breached down the left side by Lawrence before the rapid the winger darted past the defender to score his maiden Premiership try at home for his childhood club.

It was to be the narrative of the half: encouraging visiting flashes only for Bath to hit back with lethal precision. The game was still in its early stages when they found the line once more, the flanker slicing clear off the back of a home lineout and passing to the inside center on his shoulder to finish exuberantly.

Luckily Sale still had the superb Ford to stay within reach. The national number 10 had already landed a finely judged penalty and a clever drop-goal when a Bath restart bounced straight to him on the midfield. Having taken a moment to compose himself, the fly-half nailed another inch-perfect drop to close the deficit before the prop forward, from short distance, secured Bath’s third touchdown with Sale’s captain Ernst Van Rhyn temporarily suspended.

Coming back from 21-9 as visitors would be a tough assignment under any circumstances, not to mention against a Bath team with a numerical advantage and a strong substitutes. It was a credit to Sale’s resolve, then, when they worked Jibulu over from close range just a short time after the resumption to undermine any home complacency.

Ordinarily that is the signal for Bath to increase the tempo, but this time the visitors were forewarned. They made their own series of substitutions and, at a narrow margin, it took a stunning tackle from the flanker to halt the seriously hard running of Marius Louw. A big collision by the defender also led to Ted Hill to be substituted injured, but where it was decisive, up on the points tally, Bath repeatedly succeed these days.