Skipper Ben Curry, Tadgh McElroy, Dan du Preez and Tom O’Flaherty return to the Sharks XV as Alex Sanderson makes four changes to his side to face Bristol Bears at the Salford Stadium on Friday night (LIVE on TNT Sports and BBC Radio Manchester).
McElroy replaces Luke Cowan-Dickie while Dan du Preez comes in for newly called-up Lion Tom Curry, who misses out with a minor hamstring injury. O’Flaherty starts on the right wing in place of Arron Reed (calf).
Sharks flanker Sam Dugdale will play his 100th game for the club if he comes on from the bench, while senior academy hooker Alfie Longstaff is poised to play his first Premiership game after being named on the bench.
Jean-Luc du Preez and Jonny Hill will almost certainly play their final Sharks games at the Salford Stadium.
Hooker McElroy starts between England props Bevan Rodd and Asher Opoku-Fordjour in the front-row after Cowan-Dickie was ruled out with a leg injury.
Jonny Hill starts with Ernst van Rhyn in the second-row while it’s all change in the back-row as Jean-Luc du Preez starts at blindside flanker, skipper Ben Curry replaces brother Tom at openside and Dan du Preez starts at number 8.
Gus Warr and George Ford combine once again at half-back and they’ll have Rekeiti Ma’asi-White and ever-present skipper Rob du Preez outside them in the centres.
In the back three, O’Flaherty starts on the left wing with Tom Roebuck on the right and Joe Carpenter at 15.
Si McIntyre, Wales prop WillGriff John and senior academy hooker Alfie Longstaff are the front-row replacements with Ben Bamber and Sam Dugdale the other forwards on the bench.
England scrum-half Raffi Quirke, former Bears man Sam Bedlow and Alex Wills are the backs replacements.
Sharks Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson says he’s expecting a big performance from the visitors, who failed to score a point when Sharks won at Ashton Gate in December, and he says improving his side’s discipline will be key to getting the right result.
Alex said: “I’m expecting the most dangerous, and the most desperate version of a Bristol Bear to be heading north on Friday and we have to be ready for it.
“They came up here last year and took away what was, at the time, a long unbeaten home record and I’m sure they’re going to up their physicality again.
“They’ve got gamebreakers all over the field who can deliver lightning bolts and score mega tries. The season, for both teams, is up for grabs in this game.
“After Leicester we talked about our discipline and there was an honest acceptance about what we could do better. We learned really important lessons.”
Sale Sharks Starting XV:
15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford 9. Gus Warr, 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Tadgh McElroy, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour 4. Ernst van Rhyn, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. JL du Preez, 7. Ben Curry ©, 8. Dan du Preez.
Replacements:
16. Alfie Longstaff, 17. Si McIntyre, 18. WillGriff John, 19. Ben Bamber, 20. Sam Dugdale, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Sam Bedlow, 23. Alex Wills.
Officials:
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referee 1: Joe James
Assistant referee 2: Wayne Falla
TMO: Dean Richards
Match stats:
Sale Sharks
- George Ford assisted the joint-most tries at the weekend (three). He has assisted eight tries in his last six Premiership appearances.
- Asher Opoku-Fordjour has a tackle success rate of 95.4% – the highest among players who have made over 100 tackles this season.
- Joe Carpenter has made more metres than any other Premiership player this season (1,093). He has made 173 carries in total – among the top ten players in the league and the most in the Sharks squad.
Bristol Bears
- AJ MacGinty assisted a try in Round 16. He has assisted at least one try in eight matches this season – as many as any other player.
- Gabriel Oghre made the most tackles in Round 16, a total of 23. No Bears player has made more in a match this season.
- Fitz Harding leads the league with 28 offloads this season. Teammate Gabriel Ibitoye ranks second with 26 offloads completed.
