The iconic Chabal, who was making his first appearance after the World Cup, took a knee to the head at the bottom of a ruck and was given treatment on his neck for two minutes midway through the first half.

He briefly re-entered the fray, but was forced to retire shortly afterwards to have his neck examined by Sale’s medical staff.

Chabal said: “I’m okay. I just got hit by a big tackle and felt pretty dazed and my neck was sore, but I’m fine.”

The player nicknamed ‘Caveman’ is due to see Sale’s club doctor on Saturday morning at the Carrington training complex.

And director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre said: “He has a sore neck but I don’t think it’ll be a worry.

“It’s a shame he had to go off but he brought a lot of power in the beginning.”

Saint-Andre’s men ended Bath’s five-match winning run with a result which encouraged hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of a much-maligned competition.

Sale were destroyed by Cardiff in their Pool B opener last week but they fully deserved this success.

That fly-half Charlie Hodgson again proved their talisman, landing 20 points with a flawless kicking display, came as no surprise to anyone.

England prop Andrew Sheridan also made a telling impact on his first appearance of the season, as did Argentina’s Lobbe brothers, Juan Fernandez and Ignacio Fernandez.

However, Saint-Andre added: “We’ve got a lot of work to do – it’s good to have the World Cup players back, but we are rusty.”

Sale’s only try came from Chris Bell in the first half while disappointing Bath’s points came from a Lorne Ward try and a conversion and penalty from Shaun Berne.