Chris Ashton ran in two tries as his Sale Sharks side beat Bordeaux Bègles 50-24 in a lively Challenge Cup affair.
The England winger, who returned to the international fold in November after two years in the wilderness, dotted down twice in the first-half to help the Sharks wrap up a bonus point before the break.
After a balanced opening to proceedings at the Stade Chaban-Delmas, the 2011 Six Nations top try-scorer showed his finishing instinct when he put the final touches to an overlap out wide.
And it was a similar story less than 10 minutes later after Sale went down the blindside from a scrum to find Ashton free on the touchline, and he made no mistake.
But the 31-year-old also impressed when he got the chance to stretch his legs, carrying the ball all of 70m before offloading to Will Cliff to score under the posts in the second-half.
Also in the points for the English side was Denny Solomona.
The winger, who has five caps for England, continued his push for an international recall as he scored Sale’s seventh try – charging up the inside of Cliff to collect his pass before touching down.
