Sale Sharks forced into late change as England star withdraws from Harlequins showdown
Tom Curry warming up for Sale Sharks ahead of their 2026/27 PREM Rugby opener
Sale Sharks have been forced into a late change to their squad ahead of their PREM Rugby clash with Harlequins, with England back-rower Tom Curry withdrawing.
The forward was due to start on the openside flank in their round three clash with the bottom-ranked Londoners but has now pulled out of the side due to illness.
Tom Curry withdraws from Sale Sharks squad as Alex Sanderson forced into late change
Curry’s departure from the side has now forced director of rugby Alex Sanderson into a slight reshuffle of his 23-man squad, too. Christ Tshiunza now comes into the run-on group in the back-row, while Sam Dugdale is promoted onto the bench.
Elsewhere, though, Sale are as previously advertised. Joe Carpenter starts at full-back, with Tom O’Flaherty and Arron Reed on the wings. Joe Marchant and Alex Lozowski continue in the midfield, with George Ford and Gus Warr starting in the halves.
Tshiunza joins Elia Canakaivata and Courtney Lawes in the back-row, while Ben Bamber and captain Ernst van Rhyn feature in the locks. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, ex-Harlequin Nathan Jibulu and Nicky Smith start in the front-row.
Dugdale also now joins Luke Cowan-Dickie, Simon McIntyre, Tomas Francis, Ben Curry, Dom Hanson, Marius Louw and Ponipate Loganimasi on the bench.
Meanwhile, Jason Gilmore’s side are also as announced on Friday afternoon. George Furbank continues at full-back, with Tyrone Green and captain Cadan Murley on the wings. Luke Northmore and Bryn Bradley start in the centres, while Marcus Smith and Will Porter form the half-back pairing.
Chandler Cunningham-South, Seb Driscoll and Jack Kenningham start in the Quins back-row, while Kieran Treadwell and James Dun get the nod at lock. Simon Kerrod, Sam Riley and Will Hobson are the starting front-row.
Jack Walker, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Ollie Streeter, Guido Petti Pagadizábal, Lucas Schmid, Lucas Friday, Oscar Beard and Rodrigo Isgró are named on the bench.
Updated Sale Sharks v Harlequins teams in full
Prediction: Sale by 20
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Elia Canakaivata, 7 Christ Tshiunza, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Nathan Jibulu, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sam Dugdale, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Dom Hanson, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Ponipate Loganimasi
Harlequins: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tyrone Green, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Bryn Bradley, 11 Cadan Murley (c), 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Will Porter, 8 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Seb Driscoll, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 James Dun, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Sam Riley, 1 Will Hobson
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 18 Ollie Streeter, 19 Guido Petti Pagadizábal, 20 Lucas Schmid, 21 Lucas Friday, 22 Oscar Beard, 23 Rodrigo Isgró
Venue: CorpAcq Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 BST
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Henry Pearson and Jamie Leahy
TMO: Peter Allan
Live on: TNT Sports 5 and HBO Max
READ MORE: England: One-cap ‘dark horse’ tipped to ‘bolt all the way to the World Cup’
