Sale fly-half Charlie Hodgson followed up his glittering performance for England against Romania last weekend with another fine display at Headingley this afternoon.

The 21-year-old Sharks ace sent Leeds crashing to their second successive heavy defeat with a 27-point haul which included two tries.

The Tykes' pack struggled to deal with the visitors power up front and when they did find themselves in threatening positions, they failed to capitalise.

Instead it was the Sharks, prompted by Hodgson, who made the most of their chances with former England winger Steve Hanley completing his afternoon's work with a brace of tries.

Leeds found themselves under early pressure as the visitors poured forward from the kick-off, securing a first-minute penalty only for Hodgson to spurn the scoring opportunity.

But he made amends seven minutes later with a sweetly-struck three-pointer as the Sharks continued to surge ahead with some powerful running.

Tykes' Australian fly-half Stan Parks levelled shortly after as Leeds started to push deep into Sale's half.

A promising attack - started when Argentine winger Octavio Bartolucci gathered up Dan Scarborough's up-and-under - was concluded when the home pack chose to pick and drive up the middle when there was a clear overlap out wide.

The Tykes were left to rue their missed chance just seconds later as Hodgson bagged another penalty and a try in the space of three minutes - the Sale outside-half throwing a dummy and ghosting through the Leeds cover to touch down.

And the home side's woe continued in the 24th minute when Hanley gathered up an overhead pass from Jos Baxendell and cruised over for a try converted by Hodgson.

Sale, leading 18-3, were well on top by now and despite the occasional foray forward by Leeds, it was the visitors who were doing the damage, with Hodgson making the most of the considerable amount of ball being won by the forwards.

The Sharks made a blistering start to the second half with Hanley rounding off a sweeping move for a try just 48 seconds after the restart.

Parks and Hodgson exchanged penalties before Leeds crossed through burly centre Graham Mackay who went storming over. Parks slotted the extra point.

The try spurred the Tykes on and they enjoyed a period of domination, but this was brought to a close when winger Mark Cueto touched down following a flashing run from Hanley.

Sale added further tries through Hodgson and Mel Deane, with Shaun Woof adding a late consolation for Leeds to round off a dismal afternoon for the home side.