Saracens, Sale name their Gallagher Premiership final teams
Saracens have named their team to take on Sale on Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham, making one surprise change from their May 13 semi-final win over Northampton.
Mako Vuniopla was the starting loosehead in the 38-15 victory over the Saints at the StoneX, but the England prop has only been chosen on the bench for the final with his starting place going to the promoted Eroni Mawi.
The only other Saracens change is on their bench with Aled Davies, who has recovered from a hamstring issue, restored as their back-up scrum-half at the expense of American Ruben de Haas.
The number of Sale alterations mirrors Saracens, with just one change to their starting pack and a single tweak to their replacements.
With Ben Curry a first-half casualty in the 21-13 semi-final win over Leicester, his place in the starting back row is taken by Sam Dugdale.
Dan du Preez didn’t last long when came off the bench against the Tigers and his spot in the reserves is filled by Tom Ellis.
Saracens skipper Owen Farrell said: “These games are the reason you play and that makes it so exciting. We have worked hard this year and the lads have done a brilliant job to put us in this position, but we want to make sure we finish it off.
“Last year is in the past. It took us a while to think about how to get the best out of ourselves, but we have made some good steps forward this season and hopefully that is shown on Saturday.”
SARACENS: 15. Alex Goode; 14. Max Malins, 13. Alex Lozowski, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell (capt), 9. Ivan Van Zyl; 1. Eroni Mawi, 2. Jamie George, Marco Riccioni, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Hugh Tizard, 6. Nick Isiekwe, 7. Ben Earl, 8. Jackson Wray. Reps: 16. Theo Dan, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Christian Judge, 19. Callum Hunter-Hill, 20. Toby Knight, 21. Aled Davies, 22. Duncan Taylor, 23. Elliot Daly.
SALE: 15. Joe Carpenter; 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Arron Reed; 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Simon McIntyre, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Nick Schonert, 4. Jean-Luc du Preez, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. Jono Ross (capt). Reps: 16. Ewan Ashman, 17. Bevan Rodd, 18. Coenie Oosthuizen, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. Tom Ellis, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Sam James, 23. Tom O’Flaherty.
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It’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
Go to commentsDon’t pay a blind bit of notice to Lukie… he likes the sound of his own voice and is always looking for something controversial to say. He has been banging on about Leinster's defensive system all season like he knows something Jacques Nienebar doesn’t. Which is the reason why he didn’t apply for the job obviously
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