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Tom Curry returns to Sale Sharks for trip to Bristol
By Kim Ekin
British & Irish Lions backrow Tom Curry returns to action for Sale Sharks, the first time he's played since being injured in the Heineken Champions Cup in early December.
It's one change that Alex Sanderson has made as his side face Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate in round 13 of the Gallagher Premiership.
Curry replaced brother Ben in the backrow. The youngest England debutant since Jonny Wilkinson tweaked his back playing against the Ospreys in Europe, an injury Sanderson described at the time as a case of 'old man’s back'.
Jono Ross skippers the side from the blindside flank, and with Curry slotting in at openside. Daniel du Preez completes the Sharks pack at No.8.
Meanwhile Max Lahiff returns to the starting line-up for the Bristol Bears. The prop is one of three changes to the side that recorded a losing bonus point last weekend versus Exeter Chiefs.
Henry Purdy is the only change to the backline, while John Hawkins comes into the second row.
SALE SHARKS: 15. Luke James, 14. Byron McGuigan, 13. Robert du Preez, 12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11. Marland Yarde, 10. AJ MacGinty, 9. Will Cliff; 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Ewan Ashman, 3. Nick Schonert, 4. Jean-Luc du Preez, 5. Lood de Jager, 6. Jono Ross (C), 7. Tom Curry, 8. Daniel du Preez
REPLACEMENTS: 16. Tommy Taylor, 17. Simon McIntyre, 18. Coenie Oosthuizen, 19. Jean-Pierre du Preez, 20. Ben Curry, 21. Gus Warr, 22. Sam James, 23. Simon Hammersley
BRISTOL BEARS: 15. Luke Morahan, 14. Ioan Lloyd, 13. Semi Radradra, 12. Sam Bedlow, 11. Henry Purdy, 10. Callum Sheedy, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Max Lahiff, 2. Harry Thacker, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Joe Joyce (c), 5. John Hawkins, 6. Chris Vui, 7. Dan Thomas, 8. Fitz Harding
REPLACEMENTS: 16. Will Capon, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. John Afoa, 19. Ed Holmes, 20. Jake Heenan, 21. Andy Uren, 22. Piers O’Conor, 23. Jack Bates.
Kick-off at Ashton Gate is at 7.45 on Friday night UK time.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe & Jamie Leahy
TMO: Tom Foley
Citing Officer: James Hall
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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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