SALE surrendered the lead at Adams Park as they fell into the bottom half of the Premiership table with a 26-18 defeat against Wasps.

Still limping through their current injury crisis, Sharks put on a spirited display and for 40 minutes looked easily capable of causing an upset against a virtually full-strength home side.

But they couldn't maintain their effort after the break and when Wasps turned the screw, Sharks had no answer for their high-flying hosts.

The defeat leaves Sale seventh in the Premiership and with just seven league games remaining, the play offs are now but a distant hope.

It is as if some greater force is conspiring against the defending champions.

As the injuries have racked up so have the defeats and it was typical that they were unable to escape High Wycombe with just their pride injured, but two more of their players as well.

Both Sebastien Chabal and Chris Jones limped off the field as a reminder of the wretched luck that Sharks have endured this season.

They had, however, started at Adams Park as if their worries had been lifted.

Captain Jason Robinson - on top form after some confidence-boosting performances for England of late - instantly caught the eye with a dazzling run, which only came to an end when he failed to collect his own grubber kick.

Stand-in fly half Rhys Jones kicked a penalty from inside his own half to open the scoring but it was the returning Mark Cueto who made his mark on the first half by capping a graceful move with a well-taken try.

Juan Fernandez Lobbe started the move after breaking from a scrum and Sale moved the ball along the line before Chris Jones sent in Cueto, who will certainly be called up by England sooner rather than later if he continues to play like this.

Rhys Jones added the conversion and at 10-0, the visitors appeared comfortable.

Wasps countered, however, and almost hit back straight away, only for Tom Voyce's try to be ruled out by the video official after the winger was adjudged not to have grounded the ball properly.

The hosts bided their time though and nine minutes later they got a reward for their persistence. Josh Lewsey launched a counter-attack after picking up a long clearance kick and Wasps put together an impressive move that saw Tom Rees score in the corner.

Alex King converted and then exchanged penalties with Rhys Jones to leave Sale 13-10 up at the interval.

The second half was a different story. King knocked over three unanswered penalties to establish a six-point lead for his side and while Sale struggled to gain any meaningful possession, Wasps made theirs count.

After pressuring Rhys Jones they won turnover ball and Jeremy Staunton scored to put the result beyond doubt.

There was still time for Sale to grab a late consolation when Andy Vilk made a superb break to set up Chris Bell for the try but Rhys Jones missed the conversion and a late penalty to deny them the chance of even a losing bonus point.

Messenger star man: Jason Robinson