Sale Sharks make 3 changes for Champions Cup clash with Leinster

Alex Sanderson has made three changes to his Sale Sharks side for Saturday evening’s Champions Cup quarter-final trip to face Irish giants Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Sanderson gives hooker Ethan Caine his first start in the competition, with Luke Cowan-Dickie out for the rest of the season after breaking his forearm in the victory over Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop last weekend.

Academy hooker Alfie Longstaff comes onto the bench after Nathan Jibulu was banned for six weeks after admitting biting Harlequins prop Will Hobson in the round of 16 clash.

Si McIntyre comes into the side at loosehead after Bevan Rodd was ruled out with a dislocated shoulder, and an all-Sharks Academy front row will be completed by England tighthead Asher Opoku-Fordjour, who came back from injury last week.

Skipper Ernst van Rhyn once again teams up with Ben Bamber in the second row, while Jacques Vermeulen, Sam Dugdale and Dan du Preez once again make up a dynamic back row.

Fixture

Investec Champions Cup

Leinster

09:30

11 Apr 26

Sale

All Stats and Data

Gus Warr starts again at scrum-half with Raffi Quirke out for the next five weeks with a hamstring injury, and George Ford is at fly-half. Outside them, Rekeiti Ma’asi-White is joined in the centres by Rob du Preez, who earns a recall to the side.

Tom Roebuck starts again on the right wing, with Tom O’Flaherty and full-back Joe Carpenter making up an exciting back three, and Sharks Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson says his team are comfortable with their underdogs tag.

“We’ll need to be at our best because there is no bigger challenge in club rugby. We’re well aware of that, but we’re not the type of team to back down from a challenge.

“We’re not going there to be part of their party and to make up numbers. We’re taking Manchester on the road, and we’re going to have a proper dig at them.

“This is a team that rises to challenges and finds the best of itself when their backs are against the wall. We understand that we’re going there as underdogs, but we’re going to go after them and do it for 80 minutes.”

Starting XV: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Simon McIntyre, 2. Ethan Caine, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ernst van Rhyn (c), 5. Ben Bamber, 6. Jacques Vermeulen, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. Dan du Preez.

Replacements:16. Alfie Longstaff, 17. Ralph McEachran, 18. James Harper, 19. Reuben Logan, 20. Jos Gilmore, 21. Dom Hanson, 22. Marius Louw, 23. Alex Wills.