Preview: Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks
Newcastle Falcons have rung the changes for Friday’s Premiership visit of Sale Sharks to Kingston Park with eight new faces coming into the starting XV.
A vital all-northern clash sees the fifth-placed Falcons hosting the team sat one point and one place behind them, with the result crucial in terms of semi-final qualification.
Flanker Gary Graham returns after injuring his neck during England training in early February – the 25-year-old having played a quarter of Monday night’s 37-12 victory over A-League leaders Northampton.
Ally Hogg joins Graham in a freshened-up back-row, while Will Witty replaces Sean Robinson in the second-row as the Falcons look to preserve a record which has seen them unbeaten at Kingston Park in more than four-and-a-half months.
Michael Young returns from a leg injury to start at scrum-half exactly a decade on from his Newcastle Falcons debut and Joel Hodgson replaces Toby Flood at fly-half.
Juan Pablo Socino starts for the first time since February in place of Josh Matavesi, with the Argentinean centre having been part of the Falcons’ squad which defeated Sale Sharks 13-12 when the teams last met at the AJ Bell Stadium in September.
Simon Hammersley replaces Alex Tait at full-back and the only other change sees Scott Lawson coming in for Kyle Cooper at hooker.
Falcons’ director of rugby Dean Richards said: “The way things are poised in the Premiership table means Friday is set up to be an absolutely cracking game with a huge amount riding on it.
“We’ve taken a few bumps from last weekend and put some fresh bodies out there, it will be an interesting game and it certainly won’t be an easy one against a good Sale side who enjoyed a late win at home to Wasps last Friday.
“Sale will be on a high from that result, they’re playing some good rugby and I think it’s great for the north that you’ve got the both of us in the top half of the table.
“For us it’s a must-win game in terms of keeping our top-four hopes alive, and if we don’t win then we can almost kiss the semi-finals goodbye. That’s not a mathematical certainty, but you have to be realistic about the fact it will be extremely difficult to make the top four if we don’t win this one.”
Meanwhile, Sale have made five changes, two positional, in their starting XV for the Premiership game at Newcastle Falcons.
Paolo Odogwu and Luke James start at left wing and inside centre respectively, while tighthead prop WillGriff John – a late withdrawal against Wasps – returns to the front-row.
Marland Yarde switches wings and Byron McGuigan is named at full-back.
18-year-old Cameron Redpath wears the number 23 shirt and, if he comes off the bench, will be making his Premiership debut.
Three players – Faf de Klerk, Ross Harrison and Jono Ross – have played in every Premiership game this season.
Form: Newcastle Falcons’ defeat to Worcester Warriors was their first Aviva Premiership loss since going down 25-3 to Saracens in early February. They had been on a run of four consecutive league victories, but that reversal to the Midlanders sees them reside just outside the play-offs going into this encounter. Just behind them are Sale, who have been on fine form after securing three successive bonus-point triumphs over Northampton, Worcester and Wasps. In all, following an inconsistent start to the campaign, the Sharks have now won eight of their last 11 Premiership encounters.
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Michael Young, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Gary Graham, 6 Will Welch (c), 5 Will Witty, 4 Calum Green, 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Sam Lockwood
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Rob Vickers, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Evan Olmstead, 20 Ryan Burrows, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Maxime Mermoz, 23 Alex Tait
Sale: 15 Byron McGuigan, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Sam James, 12 Luke James, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: Marc Jones, 17 Alexandru Tarus, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 TJ Ioane, 21 Tom Curry, 22 Will Cliff, 23 Cameron Redpath
Date: Friday, April 13
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 local (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, John Meredith
TMO: Trevor Fisher