Preview: Sale v Brive

Editor

Sale Sharks welcome back Andrew Sheridan and Mark Cueto for Friday's European Challenge Cup quarter-final against Brive at Edgeley Park.

Sale Sharks welcome back Andrew Sheridan and Mark Cueto for Friday's European Challenge Cup quarter-final against Brive at Edgeley Park.

Sheridan and Cueto have been missing in recent weeks due to injury but both make a welcome return as Philippe Saint-Andre mixes things up a little.

“This is a massive game for us as success in this competition would give us a Heineken Cup place next season,” said Saint-Andre.

“I have had to rotate the squad however as this is the first of three games in eleven days for us.”

All Black Luke McAlister will start at fly-half, with Charlie Hodgson on the bench. Hodgson missed training in the week to be with his wife, who gave birth to a baby boy on Tuesday.

Northampton-bound Ben Foden will start at full-back, as he again plays second fiddle to Richard Wigglesworth at scrum-half.

In the forwards Jason White, who captains the side, is joined by Magnus Lund and Sebastien Chabal in an all-international back row.

Brive include South African trio Charl van Rensburg, Vickus Liebenberg and captain Johan van Zyl in their forward pack.

Behind the scrum Ronnie Cooke and Fabrice Estebanez form a formidable centre partnership, while Fijian international Norman Ligairi has to settle for a place on the bench.

The Teams:

Sale Sharks: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Chris Bell, 12 Lee Thomas, 11 Oriol Ripol, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Sebastien Chabal, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Jason White (c), 5 Sean Cox, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Eifion Roberts, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Terry Sigley, 18 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 19 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 20 Will Cliff, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Julien Laharrague.

Brive: 15 Alexis Palisson, 14 Farid Sid, 13 Fabrice Estebanez, 12 Ronnie Cooke, 11 Filimone Boleavucu, 10 Maxime Petitjean, 9 Gregory Mahe, 8 Simon Azoulai, 7 Jérôme Bonvoisin, 6 Charl van Rensburg, 5 Vickus Liebenberg, 4 Johan van Zyl (c), 3 Andres Bordoy, 2 Jean Phillipe Bonrepaux, 1 Luke Harbut.
Replacements: 16 Jawad Djoudi, 17 Kevin Buys, 18 Fabien Domingo, 19 Vincent Forgues, 20 Damien Neveu, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Norman Ligairi.

Date: Friday 4 April, 2008
Kick-off: 19:30 BST, 18:30 GMT
Venue: Edgeley Park
Referee: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Touch judges: Phil Fear (Wales), Huw David (Wales)
Television match official: Tony Rowlands (Wales)