Tom Roebuck and Tom Curry both return to a powerful Sharks side as Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson makes two changes to his team to face Leicester Tigers in the Gallagher Premiership play-off on Saturday (KO 3.30pm, LIVE on TNT Sports + BBC Radio Manchester).
The England pair missed out on the final game of the league season with injury but they’re both fit to start at Mattioli Woods Welford Road as Sale go in search of a win that would secure a second Premiership final in three years.
Alex has picked an all-England front-row for the crunch clash against Michael Cheika’s side, with Luke Cowan-Dickie starting at hooker in between props Bevan Rodd and Asher Opoku-Fordjour.
Jonny Hill starts with Ernst van Rhyn once again in the second-row while Tom Curry joins brother – and Sharks skipper – Ben and Jean-Luc du Preez in a combative back-row.
England scrum-half Raffi Quirke and George Ford combine for the second consecutive week at half-back and they’ll have Rekeiti Ma’asi-White and the ever-present Rob du Preez outside them in the centres.
In the back three, Roebuck has overcome a calf strain to start on the right wing with Scotland winger Arron Reed on the left and Joe Carpenter at 15.
Si McIntyre, Wales prop WillGriff John and Tadgh McElroy are the front-row replacements with Ben Bamber and Dan du Preez the other forwards on the bench.
Scrum-half Gus Warr, Luke James and Tom O’Flaherty are the backs replacements.
Speaking in his pre-match media briefing, the Sharks DoR said his players were ready for the challenge ahead against a Tigers team who came out on top when the sides met in round 16.
He said: “I’m expecting a big battle. They prioritise a lot of the things that we do around physicality and set-piece and we know it’s going to be a really tough game in front of a partisan crowd.
“We’ve been talking about how we manage our mentality through the ups and downs of the game.
“At this stage of the season it’s about being better at the basics and simplifying what we do. The gainline battle and the collisions on both side of the ball are going to be key, as well as the set-piece.
“When we played a few weeks back we got them in the first half but they beat us up in the second. A 60 minute performance this week won’t do – it’s going to have to be 80.
“We’ve earnt the privilege of feeling the pressure at this stage of the season. We know there’s nothing after this if we don’t get the job done so we’re ready.”
Sale Sharks Starting XV:
15. Joe Carpenter, 14.Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11. Arron Reed, 10. George Ford 9. Raffi Quirke, 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour 4. Ernst van Rhyn, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Ben Curry ©, 8. JL du Preez.
Replacements:
16. Tadgh McElroy, 17. Si McIntyre, 18. WillGriff John, 19. Ben Bamber, 20. Dan du Preez, 21. Gus Warr, 22. Luke James, 23. Tom O’Flaherty.
Officials:
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referee 1: Adam Leal
Assistant referee 2: Craig Maxwell-Keys
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Match stats:
Leicester Tigers
- Olly Cracknell made a round-high 23 carries last weekend. He has made more carries this season than any other player (264) and is also among the top ten players for tackles, having made 198.
- Solomone Kata assisted the joint-most tries in Round 18 (two). Only he, Handre Pollard, and Freddie Steward have assisted more than one try in a match for the Tigers this season.
- Last weekend, Julian Montoya threw more successful lineouts than any other player (16); he has thrown the third-most this season (164).
Sale Sharks
- George Ford was six from six off the tee last weekend and scored a round-high 15 points. He also assisted a break and won a turnover.
- Rob du Preez is the only player in the Premiership who has played every minute of every match. Teammates Gus Warr and Joe Carpenter have also appeared in every match.
- Ernst van Rhyn has made 20 dominant tackles this season – more than any other player. As a team, the Sharks have made the second-most in the Premiership (170).
