Pre-match tears were shed on the pitch and in the stands during a minute's silence in memory of former Sale lock Hyron Andrews, who died on Friday at the Johannesburg Lions' team hotel ahead of their Champions Cup match at La Rochelle.

The 31-year-old played regularly for Sale last season, and his former side started positively as they sought a memorable performance.

Ben Curry peeled off a maul and sprinted through, much to Glasgow's surprise, before Arron Reed crossed out wide after some sharp handling.

However, a penalty try for a maul infringement sent Gus Warr to the sin-bin, before Tom Roebuck joined him after tripping Warriors captain Kyle Steyn.

After Rory Darge spilled the ball with a try beckoning, Glasgow finally took advantage as Steyn raced down the wing to score.

A wonderful finish by Scotland's Jamie Dobie regained the visitors' lead after George Ford's penalty had put Sale back ahead.

Considered one of the favourites to win the tournament after recording a clean sweep of bonus-point wins in last year's pool stage, Glasgow were stunned by Toulon in the quarter-finals at Scotstoun.

One of those wins came against Sale after Franco Smith's side recovered from 14 points down to win 26-21.

Lock Alex Craig powered over from close range as a similar pattern began to emerge, with Rekeiti Ma'asi-White crossing after sustained pressure to keep Alex Sanderson's side in touch.

A sublime one-handed offload from Joe Carpenter then set up Reed to respond to a Warriors maul try.

However, Smith's side, who will be aiming for a deep run in Europe, crossed through replacement Ollie Smith and Ottavio Tuipulotu to secure an additional bonus point.

A new rule in this year's tournament awards an extra point to teams that score three more tries than their opponents.

The second round of fixtures in the Champions Cup will be played in December, with Glasgow hosting Pau and Sale travelling to Dublin to face Leinster.

Line-ups

Replacements: Jibulu, McIntyre, Opoku-Fordjour, Tshiunza, T Curry, Hanson, Lozowski, Loganimasi.

Replacements: O Tuipulotu, Schickerling, Talakai, Oguntibeju, Brown, Miller, Reidy, Smith.