Saracens
Sale Sharks Preview Match-related comments to be posted here
Two stars of rugby togeth
By TheSaracens
September 26 2024
The Sharks are circling! This weekend, the Wolfpack come up against Sale Sharks for our first home premiership encounter at the StoneX Stadium this season.
The first home game of the season is rapidly approaching and the Sale Sharks are who await Sarries on Saturday. Saracens have a pretty decent record against Sale – out of the last 15 games, Saracens have won 10 and Sale just 5. Our home record against Sale speaks for itself, with just one home loss to Sale since 2007 which was the 20-10 defeat last season and possibly the most lacklustre game at the StoneX over the 2023-24 season. These are definitely two sides with formerly fairly similar styles of play, strengths and weaknesses however over the last couple of years the two have grown apart with Sale developing a very robust defence and a dangerous backline featuring several potential future internationals (e.g. Joe Carpenter, Aaron Reed etc) whilst Saracens have moved away from the former ‘wolfpack’ game plan to focus more on free-flowing attacking rugby. Whilst it doesn’t always work as effectively against the top sides, it is entertaining to watch and has produced some very high scoring contests, namely the superb Showdown game at the Tottenham stadium where we watched what was free-flowing ‘joue joue’ style rugby at its very best.
Saturday will bring a fiercely competitive game. With the weather set to be a chilly 13 degrees Celsius but some sunny intervals and very little wind, the conditions seem to suit Saracens more expansive game plan better and handling should not be too difficult. Kicking will certainly play an important part. We will need to watch out for the ‘Fordbomb’ as I like to call it, more typically called the spiral bomb. A destructive weapon for any 10 to have in his arsenal, the spiral bomb is something George Ford seems to have perfected over his career. We will need to ensure the scrum is up to the test, this being the main cause for concern during the majority of last season. Sale seem to have some sort of incredible power of churning out great scrummaging props, with Asher Opoku-Fordjour being the latest of their new powerhouses upfront. However having signed Rhys Carre, Phil Brantingham and Fraser Balmain we do have some good oomph in the tight and ought to be able to at least match Sale’s scrummage, especially since Saracens have the advantage of home turf and understanding the best ways of scrummaging on the 3G pitch without losing footing. The lineout is another huge contest, with Saracens key locks such as Nick Isiekwe and Maro Itoje coming up against the monstrously tall (6 foot 8 inches I believe?) Hyron Andrews and Jonny Hill, who is, whilst a superb lineout operator, rather a loose cannon at times.
Some other key matchups include the enormously experienced George Ford against the far younger, less experienced Fergus Burke. Although I believe Burke offers more ball-in-hand and creativity around the field, Ford’s superb game knowledge and ability to read defences could be the key difference in deciding the outcome of this match. I feel openside flankers will also play a huge role – the ‘Battle of the Bens’ Ben Earl v Ben Curry is a decisive battle and one which could determine who receives the nod for the spot in the England shirt. The combination of the Curry brothers in the backrow has caused other teams serious problems in the past and we will certainly have to be on it on Saturday to ensure that we do not fall victim to them too. The centres will also be an area where we must be on top on Saturday – the combination of Sale’s new signing Waisea Nayacalevu and Rob Du-Preez could cause us numerous problems. With Lucio Cinti still away with Argentina, Sam Spink injured for another month minimum and Olly Hartley out for a considerable period, it’s without a doubt an area of weakness in our squad. The lack of any real go-forward and momentum in the midfield last season was noticeable. Having rewatched the Gloucester game, that issue seems to have been (hopefully) vanquished however there’s no denying Sale pose a far sterner midfield test than Gloucester.
The backlines of both teams show larger age differences, with Tom Roebuck, Gus Warr, Joe Carpenter and Aaron Reed all being around 25 or under, whilst our backline still features numerous experienced heads such as Ivan Van-Zyl, Nick Tompkins, Alex Lozowski, Elliot Daly, Alex Goode despite the numerous losses we suffered at the end of last season. It will be interesting to see if Alex Sanderson opts for his young flyers or if he chooses to play a more experienced team to try and combat the Saracens attack.
In short, it seems that this game is a vital one to win and could be a real statement to the other teams in the league if we can beat Sale by a healthy margin. The officials for the game are as follows:
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant Referees: Hamish Grant & Wayne Falla
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Woodthorpe seems to be a decent referee who has not been at the centre of any real controversy yet (emphasis on the yet!) but I just hope he allows play to go on with advantage and can referee the scrums without having to do 100 resets.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:10:07:07:46:05 by Darraghgirl.
Should be a really physical one, but our back row rivals any, and big Tizard has brought so much in the last 2 games.
I think Jonny Hill is still stood down awaiting the outcome of the incident in the stand at Bath.
Sale are also without Rodd & Tom Curry this week.
So expect Si McIntyre & Asher to start in the front row and Dugdale in the back row.
Any news on Fraser’s fitness?
Quote:tigersimon
Good preview.
I think Jonny Hill is still stood down awaiting the outcome of the incident in the stand at Bath.
Sale are also without Rodd & Tom Curry this week.
So expect Si McIntyre & Asher to start in the front row and Dugdale in the back row.
Any news on Fraser’s fitness?
Fraser definitely isn’t playing this week as he’s going to be doing signings in the club shop
Will we see Maro given the small number of league games he can play?
Definitely a sterner test than last week, Sale’s defence is top notch so we will need to be clever in possession, I doubt we’ll be battering any doors down so quick ball is a must and perhaps don’t go through quite as many phases in the middle third as we did last last week. Can’t wait to get back to the StoneX though!
1 Rhys Carre
2 Theo Dan
3 Marco Riccioni
4 Maro Itoje (c)
5 Hugh Tizard
6 Andy Onyeama-Christie
7 Ben Earl
8 Tom Willis
9 Ivan van Zyl
10 Fergus Burke
11 Rotimi Segun
12 Nick Tompkins
13 Alex Lozowski
14 Tobias Elliott
15 Elliot Daly
Replacements:
16 Jamie George
17 Sam Crean
18 Alec Clarey
19 Nick Isiekwe
20 Theo McFarland
21 Toby Knight
22 Charlie Bracken
23 Alex Goode
Sale Sharks Starting lineup:
15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Waisea Nayacalevu, 12. Rob du Preez, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ben Bamber, 5. Hyron Andrews, 6. Sam Dugdale, 7. Ben Curry ©, 8. Jean-Luc du Preez.
Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. Rouban Birch, 21. Nye Thomas, 22. Sam Bedlow, 23. Will Addison.
Look forward to seeing people there!
I assume Burke was carrying a niggle as he didn’t take any kicks?
Quote:Sarriebone
The PA sounds ridiculously loud on the tv coverage
Thought I was at an AC/DC concert!!
Sale heavily disrupted by injuries to Ford and De Preez (No 8) early on plus HIAs and Yellow Cards.
TBP with last move of the game.
Itoje going off injured a worry!
Carre couldn’t cope with Asher!!
Elliott looks good on the wing.
Early days and another 5 points and 2 from 2.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:09:28:20:46:31 by tigersimon.
It is bloody relentless playing against them, trench warfare almost.
Can’t see Robert du Preez in orange kit replacing Marcus Smith as the poster-boy any time soon!
And what happened to the red posts?
Quote:tigersimon
Loz apparently only found out about him place kicking just before the match! And ended up with 22 points!
Sale heavily disrupted by injuries to Ford and De Preez (No 8) early on plus HIAs and Yellow Cards.
TBP with last move of the game.
Itoje going off injured a worry!
Carre couldn’t cope with Asher!!
Elliott looks good on the wing.
Early days and another 5 points and 2 from 2.
Explain how Carre couldn’t cope with him? The only time is looked 50/50 is on the stoke of half time when the penalty was given against Marco anyway? Very ‘bandwagon’ type comment that.
Presumably the game plan was to contain Sale and break away later, but the foot could have been put to the pedal rather sooner.
Successful hills are here to stay
Everything must be this way
Gentle streets where people play
Welcome to the Soft Parade
🌻🌻🌻
Now need to follow it up next week with further improvements v Chiefs.
We look leaky in defence (a team more used to scoring tries than Sale would have got at least 4 against us today), and we really lack punch at 12. I feel IVZ can up his tempo - I might be tempted to play Charlie for longer next week.
Positives were another good scrummaging performance, Willis was really excellent imo, another good finish from Tobias and 5 points.
Sale are going to struggle this season imo. They are physical and annoying (with their stoppages and time wasting), but they just can’t score tries.
Great opportunity to put Exeter 0 from 3 next week… wouldn’t that be sad
Perfectly explained by David Flatman who knows a ‘little’ about Scrums on commentary.
I admit my comment is a little tongue in cheek and do understand it’s not just about a single scrum or individual player in the Scrum and the hit can make the difference but IMVHO don’t think Carre should be your 1st Choice LH and personally I would have Mawi and Brantingham ahead of him.
No offence intended and apologies if any caused.
Sadly I've not seen any of Brantingham scrummaging for us in person (he only came on after uncontested scrums in the preseason when I was there) but I *really* liked him around the park, and from a distance visually reminded me of Vincent Koch - if he can scrummage like him then he'll be first choice by the end of the season!
Quote:TommyKentish
I bet Borthwick would turn him into an inept plodder too.
Borthwick is rugby Kryptonite. 🤬
Quote:TogaQuote:TommyKentish
I bet Borthwick would turn him into an inept plodder too.
Borthwick is rugby Kryptonite. 🤬
Just like he turned Earl into a plodder too?
Quote:Couldn't speak to my neighbours as too loud - disappointing after having only returned after a long break and wanted to catch up. Took the time before KO to email supporters' services to complain plus followed up on the match survey. I don't normally respond to surveys but felt this was too much but kills the atmosphere!tigersimonQuote:Sarriebone
The PA sounds ridiculously loud on the tv coverage
Thought I was at an AC/DC concert!!
Quote:mrangry
I'd love to be there but trains from Luton are very dubious, one every 30 minutes and the 3 out from 11.17 are cancelled, so are northbound from MHB, so getting back might be impossible too. If missed I believe it will be the first season opener I will have missed since the late 1980s. So all the best to those who can get there and I hope to be there next Sunday
Sadly the info from National Rail was no help to you here. We caught the 12:10 from Luton, changed at St Albans onto a Sutton train and arrived at MHB shortly after 1. For unknown reasons this travel option wasn't offered on any of the apps (National Rail, Thameslink) when searching from travel between Luton and MHB. The only way to find out was a manual search.
We had no issues coming back.
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