Preview: Saracens v Sale
Andy Kyriacou will make his first Guinness Premiership start for Saracens when Sale Sharks pay a visit to Vicarage Road on Sunday.
Andy Kyriacou will make his first Guinness Premiership start for Saracens when Sale Sharks pay a visit to Vicarage Road on Sunday.
The 25-year-old hooker gets the nod against the club he left to join Saracens in 2004 and is one five changes Director of Rugby Alan Gaffney makes to his starting line-up.
Chris Jack returns from illness to take up a place in the second row while former Watford Grammar School pupil Don Barrell also gets a debut start in the competition. The 22-year-old is selected at openside flanker.
An injury to Francisco Leonelli rules him out of the match so his place at outside centre has been taken by Dan Scarbrough. On the bench, Matt Cairns makes a timely return from a broken arm as fellow hooker Fabio Ongaro is absent this week following his Six Nations call-up by Italy.
Kyriacou is delighted to be starting the game against his former club.
“It's ironic that it comes against Sale but I'm really looking forward to it,” he said.
“Fabio being away has given me the opportunity and I want to take it with both hands and show what I can do.
“Sale will be tough opponents, but with the league table very tight this is an opportunity for us to leapfrog them in the Premiership and get back to playing the way we want to. This is a big game for us and a chance to turn around the recent disappointments.”
Despite the demands of the Six Nations, Gaffney reckons Sale will still be a handful.
“Sale have five on international duty this weekend but they still have plenty of quality players who can change matches with the likes of Sebastien Chabal, Luke McAlister and Mark Cueto within the squad,” he said.
“We've made a few changes this week and injury has once again forced us into a new midfield partnership. Although Rodd Penney and Kameli Ratuvou both have experience of playing at centre, we feel they have performed well for us on the wing so Dan Scarbrough gets a run in midfield. He's a good footballer who has always been comfortable coming into the line and I know he is looking forward to showing what he can do.
“From our perspective, our performance against London Irish last weekend was much improved and we played some positive rugby with a bit more ambition. That was pleasing and although we're not running away from the fact that we need to get results, last week's performances had a lot of positives and we're looking to take that into Sunday's match.”
Meanwhile, Elvis Seveali'i returns for Sale in place of Luke McAlister who moves to fly half to cover for Charlie Hodgson.
Lionel Faure and Eifion Roberts return to the front row, Dean Schofield and Chris Jones are the locks and Magnus Lund returns to XV.
On the bench Scott Lawson replaces Neil Briggs on the bench, and he will be joined by 29-year-old front-rower Terry Sigley who joined the club from Mossley on Monday is on the bench. The coaching staff will also decide whether Ben Foden is ready to return to action.
Brent Cockbain has not been selected after being cited in last week's game against Worcester.
“We have eight games left to make sure that we finish in the top four, Saracens are close behind us in the table and we need to give this game our best shot, especially after losing three game points last week,” said Sale boss Philippe Saint Andre.
“March is a crucial month for us in that we play Saracens away then Gloucester and Bath at home.”
Form: Saracens have slipped to three successive defeats in the Guinness Premiership – their worst run in the same season since 2005/06. Sale Sharks' three-game winning run came to an abrupt halt at home to Worcester last Friday, whilst the Sharks have not suffered back to back defeats in the Guinness Premiership since round 22 last season and round one this season. Sale's only previous victory in eleven previous visits to Vicarage Road in all competitions was 40-32 in the Premiership on 25 September 2005.
Saracens: 15 Richard Haughton, 14 Kameli Ratuvou, 13 Dan Scarbrough, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Rodd Penney, 10 Glen Jackson, 9 Neil de Kock (c), 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Don Barrell, 6 Kris Chesney, 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Andy Kyriacou, 1 Nick Lloyd,
Replacements: 16 Matt Cairns, 17 Cobus Visagie, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Paul Gustard, 20 Moses Rauluni, 21 Brent Russell, 22 Edd Thrower.
Sale Sharks: 15 Mark Cueto, 14 Julien Laharrague, 13 Chris Bell, 12 Elvis Seveali'i, 11 Oriol Ripol, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Sililo Martens, 8 Sebastien Chabal, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Chris Jones, 4 Dean Schofield (c), 3 Eifion Roberts, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Terry Sigley, 18 Sean Cox, 19 Nathan Bonner Evans, 20 Will Cliff, 21 Lee Thomas, 22 Ben Foden.
Date: Sunday, March 9
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Venue: Vicarage Road
Referee: Dean Richards
Touch judges: Paul Emerson, Andrew Watson
Assessor: Paul Bridgman
Television match official: Laurie Bryant