Sale sweating over George Ford fitness but England team-mate returns

Ben Curry will return to the Sale Sharks squad for Friday night’s Investec Champions Cup opener with Glasgow, but star fly-half George Ford faces a race to be fit and could sit out the game as he faces a mandatory one-week rest.

Openside Curry, 27, who is one of England’s players who is on an enhanced player squad contract, has only played two games this season and has been out of action since the Gallagher PREM defeat at Bath on October 3.

He missed the Quilter Nations Series after undergoing an operation to solve a hamstring injury, but it’s mixed injury news with England tight-head prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour now on the sidelines for six weeks with a torn bicep.

Sharks boss Alex Sanderson says they have missed the energy that Curry brings to the squad and that he just needs to get a run of games under his belt over the next few weeks.

“Ben has literally been hamstrung by this tendon injury, but he is now going around like a dog with a new ball, so it has been really good to witness.

Fixture

Investec Champions Cup

Sale

21 - 26

Full-time

Glasgow

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“I’ve tried not to let Ben and Tom bash each other around too much because we have to save it for Glasgow. He is one of the best-back rowers in the country, and the energy he brings. We have missed him massively.

“That’s not to say any of the lads who stepped up didn’t do themselves justice, but Ben is a real special player and, like Dan du Preez, who hasn’t played a lot, just needs to play,” he said.

Sanderson, who is also set to have Will Griff-John and Aaron Reed back for the visit of the United Rugby Championship side, could decide to rest Luke Cowan-Dickie, but won’t take any risks with Ford.

Ford picked up the knock in last weekend’s defeat to Exeter Chiefs and needs to miss either the game against Glasgow or the following week’s trip to Clermont Auvergne.

“He is a quick healer and is always on top of his recovery and rehab stuff. We will continue to monitor him because the last thing we want to do is make any little twinge worse.

“We have to rest him for one of the two weeks, and if he isn’t 100 per cent fit, there is no way we are going to risk him, he is in the form of his life,” added Sanderson.