Match Preview: Sale Sharks v Gloucester Rugby

Sale Sharks host Gloucester Rugby with both sides looking to record a second win of the Gallagher Premiership Rugby campaign.

Sharks suffered defeat at Saracens in Round 2 while Gloucester won in thrilling fashion at Bristol Bears.

This match went the way of the home side in both meetings last term, with Sharks winning 24-10 at Salford Stadium last November before the Cherry & Whites triumphed 32-20 at Kingsholm in January.

Alex Sanderson has made six changes to his starting XV, while summer signing Le Roux Roets appears in a matchday squad for the first time.

Josh Beaumont, Ernst van Rhyn and Rouban Birch come into the pack following the round two defeat at Saracens, while Sam Bedlow, Will Addison and Arron Reed are picked in the backs to face George Skivington’s men. 

In total, 12 of the XV and 19 in the matchday 23 have come through or spent time in the Sharks Academy. 

From a Gloucester perspective, Val Rapava Ruskin, Seb Blake and Afo Fasogbon start in an all-new front row, with Mayco Vivas and Jack Singleton dropping to the bench.

Freddie Clarke and Arthur Clark are also new additions to the starting XV, with the latter making his return from a minor injury that's kept him out of the first two rounds.

TV: Live on discovery+, kick-off 7.45pm

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales & Gareth Holsgrove

TMO: Andrew Jackson

Team news

Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Will Addison, 12. Sam Bedlow, 11. Arron Reed, 10. Rob du Preez, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ben Bamber, 5. Josh Beaumont 6. Ernst van Rhyn, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. Rouban Birch. 

Replacements: 16. Ethan Caine, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19. Tom Burrow, 20. Le Roux Roets, 21. Nye Thomas, 22. Tom Curtis, 23. Waisea Nayacalevu. 

Gloucester Rugby: 15 George Barton, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Max Llewellyn, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams (C); 1 Val Rapava Ruskin, 2 Seb Blake, 3 Afolabi Fasogbon, 4 Freddie Clarke, 5 Arthur Clark, 6 Jack Clement, 7 Harry Taylor, 8 Zach Mercer

Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Ruan Ackermann, 21 Albert Tuisue, 22 Caolan Englefield, 23 Charlie Atkinson

Oval Insights

Sale Sharks

• Ben Curry leads the Sharks with 27 successful tackles, he also won a turnover against Saracens in their last match.
• Scrum-half Gus Warr leads the Sharks with 22 total kicks, five of those have been retained which is also a team high.
• The Sharks have scored a try in the same phase as 55.6% of their clean breaks this season – a higher percentage than any other team. However, they have made the fewest clean breaks this season.

Gloucester Rugby

• Christian Wade scored the first hat trick of the Premiership season at the weekend; he made a round-high 117 metres with ball in hand.
• George Barton kicked 19 points against Bristol Bears and was 100% off the tee. He has scored 25 points across the opening two games, second only to Fin Smith (26 points).
• Gloucester have conceded just 24 turnovers this season - the second-fewest in the league.