Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks: Match preview for the Gallagher Premiership clash

Venue: cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton

Date and kick-off time: Friday, October 18, 2024, 7.45pm

Weather forecast: 12c, cloudy

Live television coverage: TNT Sports

Referee: Christophe Ridley

Assistant referees: Karl Dickson and Simon Harding

No.4: Hamish Grant

TMO: Rowan Kitt

Saints: Furbank (c); Hendy, Freeman, Hutchinson, Sleightholme; F Smith, James; Iyogun, R Smith, Davison; Thornbury, Munga; Scott-Young, Pearson, Pollock.

Replacements: C Langdon, Haffar, Millar Mills, Hunter-Hill, Kemeny, McParland, Litchfield, Ramm.

Sale Sharks: Carpenter; Roebuck, Nayacalevu, Bedlow, O'Flaherty; R du Preez, Warr; McIntyre, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour; van Rhyn, Andrews; T Curry, B Curry (c), D du Preez.

Replacements: Caine, Onasanya, Harper, Bamber, Dugdale, Thomas, Curtis, James.

Not considered for Saints selection: Juarno Augustus, Emeka Atuanya, Alex Coles, Fraser Dingwall, Sam Graham, Tom Lockett, Alex Mitchell, Burger Odendaal, Toby Thame.

Most recent meeting: Saturday, December 30, 2023: Saints 21 Sale Sharks 17 (Gallagher Premiership)

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson: "It's not overly dissimilar to Tigers in terms of the fact they have a very, very big forward pack, some very canny half-backs and wingers who are in great form. They're a really talented group, very physical and a good challenge for us after the disappointment of last weekend. We're frustrated, a bit disappointed, a bit annoyed but we're not downhearted because we did lots of things that were good. There's clearly elements of our game that need to be better, that's always the case, but the reaction from the players has, as always, been excellent and inspiring for the coaches because they're so hungry to get back into it and get stuck into Friday."

Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson: “We’ve prepped them well so far this week, in terms of how it could feel down at Franklin’s Gardens, under the cosh, in the tumble dryer. They (Saints) have an ability at times to just up the pace, the tempo of the game, exiting and they go a really quick lineout attack and then they spread it through and you just feel like you’re under it for such an amount of time. Then they end up scoring a couple tries and you’re like ‘oh when did that happen, how’d that happen?’ when in large parts you’re really in control of the game. We’ve tried to prep them for that sort of feeling so it’s not novel, and there’s ways you can do that – repeat exit pressure, fatigue that you can put them in those kind of places and make them fight out of it.”

Opposition dangerman: It’s tempting to pick a member of the formidable back row or star centre Waisea Nayacalevu, but you just have to go for Tom O’Flaherty. The wing seems to love scoring against Saints.

Tom Vickers’ prediction: This is a fascinating clash, and one that is so key for Saints. Lose it, and they will go to Bristol Bears next Friday on the back of back-to-back defeats and without their England players. Win it, and they remain on track in a campaign that has seen them win both home matches so far but lose both on the road. This Sale team looks like Saints’ kryptonite as they have breakdown specialists and a huge amount of physicality in their pack. Saints have the dynamism, particularly with the forwards they have on the bench, and home advantage, so it’s really hard to call this one. It could easily go either way. Saints 25 Sale Sharks 24.