Sale Sharks to unleash Curry twins as part of 4 changes for northern battle

Sale Sharks boss Alex Sanderson is ready to unleash the Curry brothers Ben and Tom on Newcastle Red Bulls as he makes four changes to his starting line-up after last weekend’s Champions Cup defeat to Glasgow Warriors.

Ben Curry starts at seven and Tom at eight, while Christ Tshiunza returns to the back row, with Courtney Lawes rested and Tom O’Flaherty starting on the wing for Arron Reed. Dom Hanson starts at scrum-half with Gus Warr sidelined with a calf strain.

Sanderson has picked an unchanged front five with more than 200 international caps, with Nicky Smith once again linking up with Tomas Francis and Luke Cowan-Dickie, while skipper Ernst van Rhyn teams up with Ben Bamber again in the second row.

The trip to Kingston Park will be the first time the Currys have started a game together since the Gallagher PREM semi-final defeat to Leicester Tigers at Welford Road in June 2025, and he admits keeping them apart in training this week has been challenging.

And Sanderson believes that the days of the Red Bulls being an easy win for teams are over and they are ready to knock someone over for their first win of the season.

“We’ve kept them out of some of the contact stuff. It’s been really fun to watch them muttering away at each other in between the phases whilst they’re sorting stuff out. They know how to drive each other and always get the best out of each other. It’s exciting in that respect.

“They are a bit different to how they were last year, and Dan McFarland knows how to coach a team that’s highly competitive. These aren’t the whipping boys, and they won’t be the whipping boys of the PREM this season.

“They pushed Leicester close and could have beaten them. They should have won in Exeter; that came down to the 72nd minute, so we’re aware of that, and then the players that they brought in, Hoskins Sotutu and Max Hicks, in the back row alone.

“The threat levels are there. I’ve enjoyed watching them. We have a lot of respect for them but we have new ambitions,” said the Sharks boss.

Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Dom Hanson; 1. Nicky Smith, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Ernst van Rhyn (c), 5. Ben Bamber, 6. Christ Tshiunza, 7. Ben Curry, 8. Tom Curry

Replacements: 16. Nathan Jibulu, 17. Si McIntyre, 18. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19. Elia Canakaivata, 20. Sam Dugdale, 21. Alex Lozowski, 22. Marius Louw, 23. Arron Reed