The Sale Sharks host the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Champions Cup on Saturday, both sides have one win and one defeat against their name and Sale start as firm favourites with the bookmakers.
Sale v Sharks, Saturday 10th January, Manchester, KO 19:30 (South African time)
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wal)
Assistant Referees: Adam Jones (Wal), Ben Connor (Wal)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wal)
Weather Forecast – Eccles, Manchester
Sale Sharks:
Pool 1 is currently topped by Glasgow Warriors who have 10 points, Saracens, Stade Toulouse and Sale Sharks all have 6 points, the Hollywoodbets Sharks have 5 and Clermont have yet to open their account.
In the opening round Sale went down 26-21 at home to Glasgow Warriors and in Round 2 they came away from Clermont with a 35-14 victory.
In the Gallagher Premiership Sale are in seventh position with a record of 3 wins and 6 defeats. Over Xmas and New Year they lost away to Northampton (47-21) before beating Harlequins (43-17) in a home fixture and most recently they were edged out 19-17 away to Bristol Bears.
After this Sale wrap up their pool stage campaign away to Stade Toukouse and in the outright betting to win the tournament they are 80/1 shots with Hollywoodbets
Sharks:
The Sharks named a way under strength side for their Round 1 clash away to one of the outright favourites Stade Toulouse in Round 1 and they finished beaten 56-19. In Round 2 at home to Saracens the Sharks put themselves on the board with a 28-23 victory.
In the URC the Sharks have won just 2 of 8 matches, drawing 1 and losing 5 and they are third bottom on the log and with plenty to do to get into the play off picture. Two recent SA derby matches, both in Durban saw them beat the Bulls 21-12 but last weekend they lost 23-22 to the Lions.
After this the Sharks finish up at home to Clermont and in the outright betting to win the Champions Cup title this season they are 66/1 shots with Hollywoodbets
Team News
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Obi Ene, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Dugdale, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 4 Ben Bamber, 3 James Harper, 2 Nathan Jibulu, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Bench: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 Willgriff John, 19 Tom Burrow, 20 Hyron Andrews, 21 Dom Hanson, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Gurshwin Wehr
Sharks: 15 Hakeem Kunene, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Jurenzo Julius, 11 Le Roux Malan, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Nick Hatton (captain), 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Tinotenda Mavesere, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko.
Replacements: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Phatu Ganyane, 18 Mawande Mdanda, 19 Vincent Tshituka, 20 Matt Romao, 21 Ceano Everson, 22 Jean Smith, 23 Marnus Potgieter
The Betting,
Average early show
Sale Sharks -16.5 points at 9/10
Sharks +16.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
This Weeks Bets
Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for this weeks Champions Cup matches will be posted on this Blog.
Finally, all this week's rugby tips from members of the Goodforthegame community can be found on the weekly rugby thread on our brand new discussion forum. If you haven't done so already, register a forum account here.