England quartet Tom Curry, Joe Carpenter, Tom Roebuck and Bevan Rodd all return to Alex Sanderson’s starting XV to face Newcastle Falcons in our final pre-season friendly before the start of the new Gallagher Premiership season (Saturday 7th September, KO 7pm).
Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Hyron Andrews and Gus Warr also return to the team to face Steve Diamond’s men at Heywood Road, while Fiji skipper Waisea Nayacelevu starts again in the number 13 shirt.
The game is part of a double-header to mark 25 years of Sale Sharks. Sale Sharks Women kick off the day, and their season, with a PWR Up Series clash against Loughborough Lightning (KO 2pm) and Rachel Taylor has named three debutants in her side, including internationals Alba Capell and Olivia Ortiz.
Alex Sanderson has picked Rodd, Cowan-Dickie and Opoku-Fordjour to start in a powerful Sharks front-row and they’ll have South African duo Ernst van Rhyn and Andrews behind them in the second-row.
England flanker Tom Curry joins his brother Ben, who captains the side, and Jean-Luc du Preez in the back row.
Newly capped Scotland international Gus Warr is named at scrum-half alongside George Ford who will have Rob du Preez and Nayacelevu outside him in the centres.
Tom O’Flaherty, Tom Roebuck, who won his first England cap against Japan, and Joe Carpenter form an exciting men’s back three.
Sharks Women Head Coach Rachel Taylor has gone with a familiar front-row to kick off Sharks Women’s season, with Catie Benson, Niamh Swailes and co-captain Tysh Harper getting the nod.
Iona Antwis and Molly Morrissey will form a towering second row, with debutants Trudy Cowan and Spanish star Capell joining Jo Brown in the back-row.
USA international Ortiz starts at scrum-half and she’ll have co-captain Lizzie Duffy alongside her at number 10. Laura Perrin and Beatrice Rigoni make up the centre pairing, with Hollie Bawden, Sophie Hopkins and Nikita Prothero picked in the back three.
Sale Sharks Men Starting XV:
15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Waisea Nayacelevu, 12. Rob du Preez 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr, 1. Bevan Rodd 2. Luke Coawn-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ernst van Rhyn, 5. Hyron Andrews, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Ben Curry (c), 8. Jean-Luc du Preez
Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine, 17. Si McIntyre 18. James Harper, 19. Ben Bamber, 20. Tom Burrow, 21, Sam Dugdale, 22. Rouban Birch, 23. Raffi Quirke, 24. Tom Curtis, 25. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 26. Will Addison, 27. Arron Reed, 28. Luke James.
Sale Sharks Women Starting XV:
15. Nikita Prothero, 14. Sophie Hopkins, 13. Beatrice Rigoni, 12. Laura Perrin, 11. Hollie Bawden, 10. Lizzie Duffy (cc), 9. Olivia Ortiz*, 1. Catie Benson, 2. Niamh Swailes, 3. Tysh Harper, 4. Iona Antwis, 5. Molly Morrissey, 6. Trudy Cowan*, 7. Alba Capell*, 8. Jo Brown.
Replacements:
16. Amelia Hyndman, 17. Alice Iwanejko, 18. Evie Roach*, 19. Polly Bowman, 20. Jasmine Hazell, 21. Sofia Stefan*, 22. Izzy McGuire-Evans, 23. Lauren Delany.
*denotes a player making their Sharks debut.
