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Tuilagi debuts at No13 as Sale name team to face Harlequins

By Online Editors
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

New signings Manu Tuilagi and Sam Hill will make their Sale Sharks debuts when the 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership season resumes at Harlequins on Friday following a 159-layoff due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Boss Steve Diamond has named his new midfield arrivals from Leicester and Exeter respectively in the starting line up alongside World Cup winner Lood de Jager, who will make his full club debut at the Stoop having made his debut off the bench in the March win over London Irish.

Coenie Oosthuizen, Akker van der Merwe and Will-Griff John make up a heavyweight Sharks front row for the trip to London, with an all-South African combination of Jean-Luc du Preez and de Jager providing power and experience behind them.

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RugbyPass brings you the latest edition of The Rugby Pod featuring Sale owner Simon Orange

Club captain Jono Ross resumes his usual position at blindside flanker and is joined in a powerful back row by internationals Tom Curry and Daniel du Preez.

World Cup winner Faf de Klerk makes his first start for the club since January after recovering from a knee strain and will form a familiar partnership with Rob du Preez.

Hill and Tuilagi will form the midfield and they have an experienced back three of Byron McGuigan, Marland Yarde and Simon Hammersley outside them.

Sharks boss Diamond said: “It’s fantastic to finally be back into the Premiership. We have trained for a long time now and everyone at the club is champing at the bit to get the season started again.

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“I’m sure it will be a great occasion on Friday as we get things underway against Quins, Paul (Gustard, Harlequins’ boss) has a full squad to select from this time around, which is a stark contrast to when they visited us in January, so we will have to be firing on all cylinders to have a chance of pulling off a result away from home.”

SALE SHARKS (v Harlequins, Friday)

15. Simon Hammersley, 14. Byron McGuigan, 13. Manu Tuilagi, 12. Sam Hill, 11. Marland Yarde, 10. Rob du Preez, 9. Faf de Klerk; 1. Coenie Oosthuizen, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Will-Griff John, 4. Jean-Luc du Preez, 5. Lood de Jager, 6. Jono Ross (capt) 7. Tom Curry, 8. Daniel du Preez.

Replacements
16. Curtis Langdon, 17. Ross Harrison, 18. Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19. James Phillips, 20. Ben Curry, 21. Will Cliff, 22. AJ MacGinty, 23. Denny Solomona.

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Bull Shark 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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