World Rugby Dream Team pick Tom Curry will start his first Sharks game of the season alongside three more returning England internationals as Alex Sanderson makes 14 changes to his side for the Gallagher Prem clash with Exeter Chiefs on Friday night (KO 7.45pm, live on Discovery+).
Luke Cowan-Dickie, George Ford and Asher Opoku-Fordjour will also start against the Chiefs following their heroics with England in the Quilter Autumn Series.
Cowan-Dickie is one of three former Chiefs in the Sharks side, with Tom O’Flaherty and summer signing Jacques Vermeulen also facing their former club.
In the front row tighthead Opoku-Fordjoiur is joined by hooker Cowan-Dickie and loosehead Simon McIntyre, who will make his 100th Sharks appearance.
In the second-row, club captain Ernst van Rhyn returns alongside Ben Bamber, who played for England A in the recent fixture against Spain.
Curry returns in the number seven shirt and he’ll make up a powerful back-row with Vermeulen and number 8 Dan du Preez.
Ford, who masterminded England to three of their four Autumn wins, starts at fly-half with Gus Warr alongside him at scrum-half.
Rekeit Ma’asi-White and Rob du Preez are reunited in the centres, while on the wing, injuries to Tom Roebuck and Arron Reed mean Alex Wills gets a chance to impress alongside O’Flaherty. Luke James is the full-back.
The Sharks bench is packed with talent with hooker Nathan Jibulu joined by replacement props Tumy Onasanya and James Harper.
Hyron Andrews and Tom Burrow will offer extra lineout options from the bench.
Raffi Quirke returns from England camp to take his place alongside Marius Louw and after signing a short-term contract with the club, Regan Grace makes his return to PREM action off the bench.
Starting XV:
15. Luke James, 14. Tom O’Flaherty, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11. Alex Wills, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre (100), 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ernst van Rhyn ©, 5. Ben Bamber, 6. Jacques Vermeulen, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Dan du Preez.
Replacements:
16. Nathan Jibulu, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19, Tom Burrow, 20. Hyron Andrews, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Marius Louw, 23. Regan Grace.
Match stats:
- Sale’s last six PREM matches have all been won by the home team on the day.
- The Sharks have lost only once at CorpAcq Stadium in the PREM since January 2024:
- Sale Sharks boast the highest scrum success rate (87.5%) and most total lineouts (85) in the Premiership.
- George Ford has accumulated the most kicking metres in the league (2,027) while ranking 2nd for kicks in play (60).
- Sam Dugdale ranks 2nd for total successful tackles (83) and 1st for total ruck entries (135), showing his all-round work rate.
- Ernst van Rhyn leads the league in dominant tackle contacts (8) while contributing 129 total ruck entries (6th in Premiership).
