Sale Sharks cruised to an emphatic 39-0 bonus-point win over Ulster in their Heineken Champions Cup opener at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Brother Rob du Preez, who also kicked nine points, dotted down number three before Tom Curtis, Byron McGuigan and Arron Reed crossed to make it six.

Pointless Ulster were poor in attack.

Sale were in form for the visit of Ulster, having won their previous three games and sitting second in the Premiership.

They were boosted by the return of England players Manu Tuilagi, Jonny Hill, Bevan Rodd and Tom Curry, and it was the flanker who kickstarted the rout.

He latched onto the ball after Reed's break to power over for the opening try, before Dan du Preez scored the second in a similarly punchy close-range burst.

Ulster's preparation for the game was disrupted by the cold weather in the north west of England, which meant they had to travel on the morning of the game after their flight on Saturday was cancelled.

The hosts' disciplined defence limited Ulster's seemingly jet-lagged attack to very few chances, and the only negative was the loss of Tuilagi to concussion after a head-on-head collision with Andy Warwick.

Rob du Preez stretched Sale's lead eight minutes after the interval as his attempted offload fortuitously came back to him, before Curtis ran an excellent line to slice through the Ulster defence for the bonus point.

The game, and Ulster's spirit, was over at that stage and McGuigan capitalised on a loose line-out by the visitors to claim the fifth try before Reed finished off an excellent team move which started in his own half.

Line-ups

Sale Sharks: Carpenter; Reed, James, Tuilagi, O'Flaherty; R Du Preez (capt), Warr; Rodd, van der Merwe, Schonert; Wiese, Hill; L Du Preez, Curry, D Du Preez.

Replacements: Taylor, McIntyre, Jones, Beaumont, Ross, Simpson, Curtis, McGuigan.

Ulster: Lowry; McIlroy Hume, McCloskey Stockdale; Burns, Doak; Warwick, Herring, O'Toole; O'Connor (capt), Treadwell; Matty Rea, Timoney, Vermeulen.

Replacements: Stewart, O'Sullivan, Moore, Carter, Marcus Rea, Shanahan, Moore, Moxham.