Sale Sharks aiming to fend off top four challengers Newcastle Falcons

Sale Sharks aim to cement their place in the top four when they host Newcastle Falcons on Friday night at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The North West outfit currently hold fourth place, but in a close battle at the top, a bonus point victory could see Sharks climb as high as second.

Falcons arrive at the AJ Bell in mixed form having won two and lost two in their last four outings, which has seen a halt to their hopes of breaking into the top four.

Newcastle sit two points behind Sale, knowing a win would see them leapfrog their Northern rivals and into a play-off place at the mid-way point of the Gallagher Premiership season.

Team news:

Sharks Director of Rugby, Alex Sanderson has named two changes to his starting line-up, as Cobus Wiese and Sam Dugdale replace Cameron Neild and captain, Jono Ross.

Akker van der Merwe returns to the bench having missed the last five games with a leg injury.

Falcons make three changes to their 15, with winger, Mateo Carreras making his starting debut in place of an injured Adam Radwan.

Further injuries mean back-row duo Sean Robinson and Philip van der Walt miss out, John Hardie and Rob Farrar are brought in.

Last time out:

Sale Sharks returned to winning ways last time out with a narrow 25-20 home win over last season’s champions, Exeter Chiefs.

Sharks raced into an early lead when Byron McGuigan scored after three minutes, however two tries from Chiefs saw Sale fall behind.

Sale capitalised on an Exeter red card, and tries from Bevan Rodd and Curtis Langdon, plus a late AJ MacGinty penalty, swung the game in their favour.

“It was an epic battle between two good teams but how hard did we make it for ourselves,” said Sanderson post-match on BT Sport.

“Our discipline almost lost us the game on a few occasions but we have to take these wins.”

A last minute Brett Connon penalty gave Falcons a 25-22 win over Harelquins at Kingston Park to ensure Newcastle remain in striking distance of the top four.

Newcastle led by 14 points within half an hour, and thanks to a third try after the break, the score line widened to 19-7.

Quins hit back and levelled through Marcus Smith’s penalty with five minutes to go, however, Connon’s boot snatched victory at the death for the Falcons.

Newcastle Director of Rugby, Dean Richards was pleased with his sides performance but says there is still more to come from his players.

He said in an interview with Newcastle Falcons: “We’re pleased with the result, for sure, but the boys will admit there were elements of our game where we were a little bit off in terms of knowing where we needed to be.

“There’s so much more to come from the group, which is the particularly pleasing aspect, and we’re getting on with that hard work.”

Last meeting:

Newcastle Falcons 15-13 Sale Sharks, Gallagher Premiership

Toby Flood’s last-gasp try at Kingston Park earlier in the season snatched victory away from Sharks in what was a tale of two halves.

Falcons capitalised on a Dan du Preez’s sin binning, to take a 10 point lead into the break following a Sean Robinson try and an early Connon penalty.

Two penalties from the boot of MacGinty brought Sharks back into the contest, and the visitors looked to have won the game when Weise powered over with 10 minutes to go.

However, in the 82^nd minute, a clever chip over the top from Michael Young allowed Flood to touch down in the corner to steal victory for the hosts.

Last three ‘AJ Bell’ meetings:

Sale Sharks 12-28 Newcastle Falcons, February 2019 [Premiership Cup]

Sale Sharks 20-7 Newcastle Falcons, October 2018

Sale Sharks 12-13 Newcastle Falcons, September 2017

Sharks will be looking to end their dismal record against Falcons on a Friday night. Sale have only won one of the last five Friday meetings with Falcons – a late Will Addison penalty gave Sharks a 26-24 victory in 2017.

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