Sale Sharks v Saracens teams: England wing reaches milestone while Jamie George starts for visitors

The race to finish in the Premiership play-off spots continues on Friday when fourth-place Sale Sharks take on fifth-place Saracens at Salford Community Stadium.

Alex Sanderson makes just one enforced change to his Sale XV as he prepares to go head-to-head once more with his former club.

Hyron Andrews will start in the second-row in place of Jonny Hill, who misses out with a head injury suffered in the Round 14 win against Harlequins, while Dan du Preez also returns from a calf injury to take his place on a strong replacements bench.

100 up for Roebuck

England winger Tom Roebuck will make his 100th appearance for his boyhood club.

It’s same again for Sanderson in the front-row with hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie starting between fellow England front-row stars Bevan Rodd and Asher Opoku-Fordjour.

South African lock Andrews returns to partner Ben Bamber in the second-row while flankers Ernst van Rhyn and Tom Curry team up with Jean-Luc du Preez at number eight.

The Sale backs are unchanged with Gus Warr and George Ford combining once again at half-back and Rekeiti Ma’asi-White and Rob du Preez outside them in the centres.

In the back three, Scotland international Arron Reed starts again on the left wing with Roebuck on the right. Joe Carpenter starts again at 15.

Si McIntyre, Wales prop WillGriff John and hooker Tadgh McElroy are the front-row replacements with Josh Beaumont, Sam Dugdale and Dan du Preez the other forwards on the bench.

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England scrum-half Raffi Quirke and Tom O’Flaherty are the backline replacements.

Meanwhile, Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall has made five changes to the side that started in the Premiership last Saturday. Three of those come in the front-row, with Rhys Carre, Jamie George and Alec Clarey all stepping up from the bench to start.

Hugh Tizard returns to the second-row alongside captain Maro Itoje. Nick Isiekwe, who was Player of the Match last weekend remains in the XV but shifts to blindside flanker, with Ben Earl and Tom Willis completing the back-row.

There is just one change in the backline, as Ivan Van Zyl continues his half-back partnership with Fergus Burke.

Nick Tompkins, who crossed the whitewash against the Cherry and Whites, lines up alongside Olly Hartley in midfield.

Rotimi Segun looks to continue his fine form on the left wing, with Angus Hall coming in on the opposite flank and Elliot Daly remaining at full-back.

McCall sticks with a six–two split on the bench, with Theo Dan, Theo McFarland, Andy Onyeama-Christie and Juan Martin Gonzalez among the replacements. Alex Goode is also included as he edges closer to his 400th appearance for the club.

The teams

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez (c), 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 JL du Preez, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ben Bamber, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Dan du Preez, 21 Sam Dugdale, 22 Raffi Quirke, 23 Tom O’Flaherty

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Angus Hall, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Alec Clarey, 2 Jamie George, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Harvey Beaton, 19 Theo McFarland, 20 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 21 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 22 Charlie Bracken, 23 Alex Goode

Venue: Salford Community Stadium
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Harry Walbaum, George Selwood
TMO: Stuart Terheege

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