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Preview: Newcastle v Sale

Friday 05th September 2008

Old head: Noon to lead a young back line

Newcastle hand a Guinness Premiership debut to England U18 fly-half Rory Clegg as they host what is a strong Sale Sharks side at Kingston Park on Sunday.

The youngster scooped the man-of-the-match award in the Falcons' 37-10 pre-season victory over French side Racing Metro, and takes his place in the side with Jonny Wilkinson given more time to recover from summer shoulder surgery.

"Rory is an extremely talented player with a fantastic temperament," said Director of Rugby, Steve Bates.

"He has dealt very well with playing two full games for the first team in pre-season and we look forward to seeing him transfer that on to the Guinness Premiership stage on Sunday.

"Jonny took a very active part in training this week and was close to making the game, but having spoken to the medical team we just felt this weekend was a little too soon for him."

Elsewhere in the side there will be a Tait-versus-Tait battle at full-back, with younger brother Alex handed the number fifteen shirt, while new signings Adam Balding and Spencer Davey are both included at flank and centre respectively.

Injuries rule out Ed Williamson (elbow), Jon Golding (knee), Ross Beattie (ankle) and Danny Williams (ankle) among others, with Bates insisting he expects an exciting opening to the new Guinness Premiership campaign after a gruelling summer on the training pitch.

"We're looking forward to it after a very good pre-season, and the boys are in fantastic shape," he said.

"Our training camp in France was very profitable from a team-building and spirit point of view, it came just at the right time for us and what we have done is really tested them.

"We have learnt a lot about the players, Alan Tait and Stuart Grimes have had a significant input since joining the coaching team and we're pleased with the progress we are making."

Meanwhile, Sharks boss Philippe Saint-Andre will allow late fitness tests on Andrew Sheridan (Hamstring) and Rory Lamont (Arm), but Sebastien Bruno (knee) definitely misses out. If internationals Sheridan and Lamont prove their fitness they will be named among the replacements.

Wales scrum-half Dwayne Peel has won the battle for the number nine jersey with Richard Wigglesworth having to settle for a place on the bench.

"This will be a tough game for us. Kingston Park has never been a happy hunting ground for us, but we hope to end our poor record there on Sunday.

"We have had a good pre-season and we have had to upset a few players this weekend by not picking them.

"The 22 involved on Sunday know that we have a good squad this year and competition for places will be intense, so they need to perform well to hold onto their jersey."

Form: Newcastle and Sale clash on opening weekend for the third time in the last four seasons. The Falcons enter the game having won just one - a 28-25 success over Leicester in May - of their last ten matches in the Guinness Premiership. Sale have never managed to record a competitive win on Newcastle soil, having lost all sixteen previous encounters in all competitions at Kingston Park and Percy Park.

The teams:

Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Tom May, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Spencer Davey, 11 John Rudd, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 James Grindal, 8 Phil Dowson (c), 7 Brent Wilson, 6 Adam Balding, 5 Mark Sorenson, 4 Andy Buist, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Andy Long, 1 Joe McDonnell.
Replacements: 16 Matt Thompson, 17 Micky Ward, 17 Geoff Parling, 18 Tim Swinson, 19 Hall Charlton, 20 Steve Jones, 21 Tim Visser, 22 tbc.

Sale: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Luke McAlister, 12 Lee Thomas, 11 David Doherty, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Sebastien Chabal, 7 JM Fernandez Lobbe (c), 6 Luke Abraham, 5 Dean Schofield, 4 Chris Jones, Eifion Roberts, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Andrew Sheridan, 18 Brent Cockbain, 19 Sean Cox, 20 Richard Wigglesworth, 21 Chris Bell, 22 Rory Lamont.

Date: Sunday, September 7
Kick-off: 15:00 (16:00 GMT)
Venue: Kingston Park
Referee: Martin Fox
Touch judges: Alan Hughes, Paul Emerson
Assessor: Brian Leigh
Television match official: Trevor Parlett