Tries: Ford, Bamber, Reed 2, Carpenter, Ma'asi-White Cons: Ford 4

Tries: Heward, Gwilliam, Worsley Con: Worsley

Sale Sharks beat a weakened Bristol Bears side to ensure Champions Cup qualification for next season.

Needing only a point to secure their place in Europe's elite competition again, the Sharks had that wrapped up inside 25 minutes, in which time George Ford, Ben Bamber, Arron Reed and Joe Carpenter went over to pick up the four-try bonus point and set up a final-day success.

This was only a fifth Prem victory of the season and a first at home since December as Sale ended a very disappointing league campaign in seventh, their lowest position for seven years.

Bristol finished one place above them in sixth, albeit 18 points clear of their opponents as an injury-ravaged season eventually caught up with Pat Lam's side.

After finishing second, third and third in the previous three seasons, Sale have been miles off that standard this campaign.

In fact, they had lost 12 of their previous 14 in The Prem coming into this game, leaving their top-eight spot still not mathematically assured.

But it never looked in doubt from the moment this game began as Ford scored within 90 seconds as they established early dominance.

It was only a matter of time before they ran up the required number of tries as Bamber, Reed and Carpenter finished things off.

Bristol's play-off hopes had ended after wins for Exeter Chiefs and Saracens last weekend, and they arrived north with a much-changed line-up.

Only six players started who had begun the derby win at home to Bath, but crucially only three of those were in the same positions, with hooker Harry Thacker pushed into service in the back-row.

The entire matchday squad was made up of English players, including nine from the academy, as the Bears made sure of hitting an average of 15 English qualified players per matchday squad across a period of the season laid out by the Professional Game Partnership, with clubs at risk of a fine or even a points deduction if that is not met.

Having been overwhelmed by Sale's start, they scored two tries towards the end of the first half through Noah Heward and Tomas Gwilliam on his first Prem start as the game became loose.

But Rekeiti Ma'asi-White added a fifth try for the hosts at the start of the second period to reopen a sizeable gap.

Scotland winger Reed almost scored a sensational try from inside his own half but his jinking effort fell short as he could not ground the ball, before moments later he did get his second with a simple finish.

Bristol fly-half Sam Worsley rounded off the scoring as he touched down following an electric burst from teenage debutant Ollie Harris that set him up.

Sale have 'lots to get excited about' - reaction

Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson said:

"It was good to pay back the fans. It was important that we did and send the lads off in a good vein.

"I'm happy with the response in our defence and clearly some of the stuff we did in attack was in the form of where our game model is going.

"There is a lot of things to get excited about on the back of that for the season to come and all the young lads that finished that game get a taste of what a win feels like."

Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam said:

"I'm really proud of the guys. We knew Sale needed to win to get the Champions Cup and I saw their selection, which was great for our young guys.

"To look at Tom Curry, George Ford, all these players they were excited to play against.

"We got off to a rough start, 26-0 down, but I was really proud of Harry Randall. He kept everyone calm and we said we'd get our opportunity and we scored two before half-time.

"The fight of the guys, we had two hookers on for the whole game, by the end we had three nines on the field and four props, but the boys showed their pride in the jersey. It will hold a lot of them in good stead."

Sale: Carpenter; O'Flaherty, Roebuck, Ma'asi-White, Reed; Ford, Quirke; Opoku-Fjordjour, Jibulu, Harper, Van Rhyn (c), Bamber, Dugdale, Kelly, T Curry.

Replacements: Longstaff, McEachran, Bell, Andrews, Logan, Warr, James, Wills.

Bristol: Lane; Heward, Bates, J Jenkins, Boshoff; Worsley, Randall (c); Woolmore, Gwilliam, Lahiff, Dun, Taylor, Owen, Thacker, Batley.

Replacements: Hill, Grahamslaw, Chawatama, Halliwell, K Jenkins, Wolstenholme, Pepper, Harris.

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe