Tom Curry’s stunning recovery offset by England duo’s absence for Sale Sharks in Premiership semi-final with Bath
Sale Sharks flanker Tom Curry on a run.
The second Premiership semi-final takes place on Saturday afternoon as an entertaining Bath outfit face Sale Sharks at the Recreation Ground for a spot in the final.
Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan has made one change to his side that stormed to victory over Northampton in Round 18 that secured a home play-off fixture.
Getting his eighth start in a row, prop Beno Obano takes the starting loosehead jersey while Tom Dunn will feature as hooker, with Thomas du Toit completing the starting Bath front-row.
Alfie Barbeary starts
Quinn Roux and Charlie Ewels are named again in the second-row after delivering strong performances together against Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints in recent weeks.
Across the back-row, Ted Hill and Sam Underhill take the blindside and openside positions, respectively. Alfie Barbeary trades places with Josh Bayliss on the bench to start at number eight.
Captain, Ben Spencer, will command from scrum-half, partnered with Scotland star Finn Russell at fly-half.
Across the backline, Van Graan copy and pastes his selection from Round 18, with Will Muir and Joe Cokanasiga retaining their positions on the wings.
Cameron Redpath and Ollie Lawrence will pair up in the centre and Matt Gallagher completes the starting line-up at full-back.
Niall Annett, Juan Schoeman and Will Stuart take their spots on the bench, with Elliott Stooke, Miles Reid and Bayliss being named as replacement loose forwards.
Louis Schreuder and Orlando Bailey take the replacement back positions.
Meanwhile, England back-row Tom Curry makes his return to the Sale Sharks matchday squad and joins Luke James in being selected for the first time this season.
However, Manu Tuilagi misses out through injury (hamstring) while Luke Cowan-Dickie is also absent as boss Alex Sanderson makes two changes to his starting XV for the semi-final.
Sam James replaces Tuilagi as Sanderson’s men go in search of a win at The Rec that will take them to a second successive Premiership final.
The director of rugby has picked an all-homegrown front-row with props Bevan Rodd and James Harper packing down either side of hooker Tommy Taylor.
In the second-row, Cobus Wiese and Hyron Andrews team up again, while in the back-row Sam Dugdale, who won player of the match last time out in the win at Saracens, and captain Ben Curry are joined by Jean-Luc du Preez at number eight.
Scrum-half Gus Warr and George Ford combine once again at half-back, and they’ll have Rob du Preez and Sam James outside them in the centres. Wingers Tom O’Flaherty and Tom Roebuck and full-back Joe Carpenter make up the rest of the XV.
On the replacements bench, Sale have opted for a 6/2 forwards/backs split as hooker Agustin Creevy is joined by props Simon McIntyre and WillGriff John. Ben Bamber, Ernst van Rhyn and Tom Curry make up the rest of the forwards replacements, while Luke James and scrum-half Raffi Quirke cover the backs.
The teams
Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Miles Reid
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Sam James, 12 Rob du Preez, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jean Luc du Preez, 7 Sam Dugdale, 6 Ben Curry (c), 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 James Harper, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Ben Bamber, 20 Ernst van Rhyn, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Luke James, 23 Tom Curry
Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 15:30 BST
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Tom Foley, Sara Cox
TMO: Stuart Terheege
