Preview: Sale v Newcastle

Editor

Sale Sharks duo Mark Cueto and Nathan Hines will start in their final home games against Newcastle Falcons, before they retire.

Marc Jones, Will Cliff and Michael Paterson are on the bench for their last home games before they leave the club.

Speaking ahead of the game, Steve Diamond said: "We have a lot to play for this weekend in front of a big crowd, we need to perform better than we have done in the past couple of games.

"We've got to deliver on Saturday, and get the best performance out of the lads, and with it being Mark Cueto's last home game there is a bit of extra bit of motivation & incentive in the game.”

Meanwhile, Newcastle Falcons have made two changes to the starting XV.
  
The changes for this weekend's game see Adam Powell coming into the team at outside centre to replace Chris Harris, who left the field early with a stinger to his shoulders a fortnight ago, while in the pack, Calum Green returns to the second row in place of Italian lock Josh Furno.
 
The settled outlook continues to the bench, where five of the eight replacements are as they were against the Cherry and Whites.
  
Will Witty will be eager for further first team action, having made his Aviva Premiership debut in the closing stages of the game against Gloucester. 

Form: Gloucester's Challenge Cup win last weekend means seventh-placed Sale must now make up an eight-point gap in order to reach the top six with two rounds to go. A bonus-point win over Newcastle Falcons on Saturday is paramount to achieving this feat. Victory for Sale would score their first ever Premiership double over the Falcons, having triumphed 18-13 in November's corresponding fixture. For the 11th-placed Falcons to avoid that they must claim only their second away win anywhere in the Premiership since October 2013.

The teams:

Sale: 15 Tom Arscott, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 David Seymour, 6 Dan Braid (c), 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 TJ Ioane, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mike Haley

Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Ruki Tipuna, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Calum Green, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Eric Fry, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Will Witty, 20 Richard Mayhew, 21 Mike Blair, 22 Alesana Tuilagi, 23 Anitelea Tuilagi

Date: Saturday, May 9
Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant Referees: Paul Burton, Andrew Jackson
TMO: Graham Hughes