Sale v Glos

[Gloskarlos]

Advantage Sale?

Sale: Ashton; Solomona, S James, O'Connor, McGuigan; MacGinty, De Klerk; Harrison, Webber, John, Beaumont, Phillips, B Curry, T Curry, Ross (capt).

Replacements: Langdon, Morozov, Jones, Evans, Strauss, Cliff, L James, Reed.

Gloucester Rugby:

Charlie Sharples; 14. Tom Seabrook, 13. Henry Purdy, 12. Matt Banahan, 11. Ollie Thorley; 10. Lloyd Evans, 9. Callum Braley; 1. Kyle Traynor, 2. Henry Walker, 3. Gareth Denman; 4. Tom Savage (capt), 5. Gerbrandt Grobler; 6. Jake Polledri, 7. Lewis Ludlow, 8. Gareth Evans


Replacements:

Todd Gleave, 17. Alex Seville, 18. Paddy McAllister, 19. Alex Craig, 20. Aaron Hinkley, 21. Ben Vellacott, 22. Dom Coetzer, 23. Tom Marshall

Right selection for Glos with playoff in mind and this being a complete ‘non event’ game. Can understand Bath, Wasps, Saints feeling a little aggrieved, but there is enough talent there to pull of a shock result. Last game as captain for Savage, a rare run out for Grobler, and a couple of players fighting for a contract. Good academy numbers too.

{Mod - added Sale side as well}

[Puja]

Great to see Thorley's made it back. That's ahead of schedule, isn't it?

Puja

[Gloskarlos]

Just about yes, bit of game time for him before the semi is sensible I think.

15.Chris Ashton; 14.Denny Solomona, 13.Sam James, 12.James O’Connor, 11.Byron McGuigan; 10.AJ MacGinty, 9.Faf de Klerk; 1.Ross Harrison, 2.Rob Webber, 3.WillGriff John, 4.Josh Beaumont, 5.James Phillips, 6.Ben Curry, 7.Tom Curry, 8.Jono Ross (capt.)

Replacements: 16.Curtis Langdon, 17.Valerey Morozov, 18.Joe Jones, 19.Bryn Evans, 20.Josh Strauss, 21.Will Cliff, 22.Luke James, 23.Arron Reed.

Ahhh you beat me to it.

[Puja]

Tough on Sale to finish outside of the ERC qualification places - Leicester did them no favours by throwing away the game against Bath. They still can get in if La Rochelle finish in the top 6 of the Top 14, but they've just dropped from 5th to 7th this weekend, so everything's going against them.

I do hope they can sneak in the back door - Sale need big games to draw the crowds, even with their big signings, and they could make a dent in the ERC next year with the squad they're assembling.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Aren’t Sale already in because Sarries are champions?

[Puja]

Aren’t Sale already in because Sarries are champions?

Nope. It only goes that way if all of the finalists for the ERC and ECC have qualified through their leagues - otherwise it goes to one of them.

Puja

[fivepointer]

The highlights are very entertaining. Some excellent tries scored, none better than Solomona's which featured an extraordinary finish.

[Mikey Brown]

I thought the pass was great too, was that McGunty? Camera angle makes it look like he’s gone 10 feet over the head of his target and then Solomona appears out of nowhere.

[Gloskarlos]

Polledri has a massive game too. Some cracking tries all round.

[Mellsblue]

was that McGinty?

Yep.

[Mellsblue]

La Rochelle managed to pip Bordeaux to the win by 81(!!!) v 12 to move up to fifth. Looks like Champions Cup rugby is coming back to Manchester.

[Puja]

Huzzah! Great news for the sport in general.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Indeed. Hopefully it will help them build crowds. I will certainly be making a few more matches.