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Curry worry for Sale Sharks as backrow out for up to six weeks
By Chris Jones
Sale have suffered another serious injury blow as they bid to reach the Gallaher Premiership play-offs with flanker Ben Curry ruled out for up to six weeks with an ankle injury.
Sale, currently in the fourth and final play-off qualification place, are on 59 points along with Bristol in fifth and will face Northampton on Tuesday night and Worcester, in the final regular season match on Sunday, without one of their most influential players.
The club had already been hit by the loss of Lood de Jager, the Springbok World Cup winning lock, who has returned to South Africa for a third shoulder reconstruction, and now Sale have been told Curry is out for between three to six weeks after he was injured in the Premiership Rugby Cup win over Harlequins last Monday. It means Sale will not be able to unleash the Curry twins – Ben and England flanker Tom – on the opposition, reducing their break down ball-winning ability.
It makes it imperative that Tom Curry stays fit for the end of the regular season and the potential play-off semi-final which Sale face significant pressure to achieve given their heavy 37-22Premiership defeat against Bath. It has left them two points behind third-placed Wasps who tackle Harlequins tomorrow night while Bristol are enjoying the plaudits for making the European Challenge Cup final where they will meet Toulon on October 16.
In a bid to clinch that qualification spot, Sale are set to name a powerful back division to take on a struggling Northampton side that has forgotten how to win at home. RugbyPass understands Sale will name Rohan Janse van Rensburg, their hard running centre, on the right-wing against Northampton with England powerhouse Manu Tuilagi partnered by Sam James in the centre with No.10 Rob Du Preez joining his twin brothers Jean-Luc and Dan in the team where will link up with World Cup-winning scrum-half Faf de Klerk whose try helped Sale lift the Premiership Rugby Cup against Harlequins.
With Ben Curry out, Tom starts in the back row alongside captain Jono Ross and Dan du Preez who has recaptured the ball carrying form that has put him in line for a Springbok recall.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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