Falcons side to host Sale Sharks
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Oli Spencer and Max Clark come into Newcastle Falcons’ team for Friday’s Gallagher Premiership Derby Weekend home game against Sale Sharks.
The 7.45pm kick-off at Kingston Park sees the Falcons looking for a repeat of the Premiership Rugby Cup victory they enjoyed over their northern rivals at the same venue earlier in the season.
Spencer (pictured) starts on the right wing as Ben Stevenson misses out with a head knock, while Clark starts at inside centre after returning from a hamstring injury.
Lock-forward Sebastian de Chaves is in line to make his 100th Gallagher Premiership appearance should he be called upon from the bench, with Cameron Neild playing his 99th.
Director of rugby Steve Diamond, speaking ahead of his side’s first home league game in almost three months, said: “We enjoyed our run in the Prem Cup and it’s been good for the club getting to the semi-finals, but ultimately Bath were worthy winners of that tournament.
“The league has always been our priority, and we’ve got two massive games this next fortnight to pull ourselves away from the bottom.
“I’m not going to attempt to play down the significance of Sale at home and Exeter away because they’re absolutely huge for us, and I feel like our lads play well when we put the pressure on them. They’re in really good spirits, they’re a brilliant group to work with and we’re going to go out there on Friday giving it everything.
“Sale are under big pressure themselves because they’re seventh in the table and they need some results to pull themselves back into the play-offs, but they’re a good side and they’ll be boosted by a number of their Six Nations guys returning.
“We’ll need to match them physically and maintain our good discipline, because if we give them cheap penalties they’ll kick the corners and turn the screw from close range. But we’ve got weapons of our own we can hit them with, and the mood around the squad is really positive about our chances.”
Determined to end the Premiership campaign strongly, Diamond said: “Our last league game saw us scoring five tries away to Bristol, who are second in the league, and we’ve shown some good stuff recently.
“We’re not missing too many through injuries at the moment, and having Sammy Arnold and Max Clark back available in the centres is a boost for us. We know Sale will come up with a strong squad but we’ve just got to get our own stuff right, and if we can do that then we’ve got a chance.
“It’s a great time to have a game because the Six Nations has just finished so rugby has been in the shop window, and Newcastle as a city is buzzing after the football team winning the League Cup last weekend. It’s a great opportunity for us to latch onto that feelgood factor, the forecast looks fine and it should be a brilliant atmosphere for people to come along and enjoy.”
Tickets for Friday’s game are available by clicking here.
Newcastle Falcons team v Sale Sharks (Friday, 7.45pm Kingston Park, live on Discovery+ and TNT Sports red button)
15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Oli Spencer, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Max Clark, 11 Alex Hearle, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Murray McCallum, 4 Philip van der Walt, 5 Kiran McDonald, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 7 Cameron Neild, 8 Callum Chick (captain).
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Kieran Wilkinson, 23 Louis Brown.
Not available for selection: Eduardo Bello, Tim Cardall, Luan de Bruin, Tom Gordon, John Kelly, Max Pepper, Ben Redshaw, Ben Stevenson.
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rekeiti Ma’asi White, 12 Rob du Preez, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford 9 Gus Warr; 1 Bevan Rodd, 2 Tadgh McElroy, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour 4 Ben Bamber, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 7 Ben Curry (captain), 8 JL du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thompson, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Sam Bedlow, 23 Arron Reed.
Referee: Christophe Ridley.
