Return of the Thack (Sale v Bris, Friday)

[jimKRFC]

Sale:
1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Coenie Oosthuizen, 4. Cobus Wiese, 5. Jean-Luc du Preez, 6. Ben Curry, 7. Tom Curry, (Capt.) 8. Daniel du Preez 9. Faf de Klerk, 10. AJ MacGinty,
11. Marland Yarde, 12. Connor Doherty, 13. Sam James, 14. Byron McGuigan, 15. Luke James,

Replacements:
16. Curtis Langdon 17. Valery Morozov, 18. James Harper, 19. James Phillips, 20. Cameron Neild, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Robert du Preez, 23. Manu Tuilagi

Bristol:
15. Charles Piutau; 14. Luke Morahan, 13. Semi Radradra, 12. Piers O’Conor, 11. Max Malins; 10. Callum Sheedy, 9. Andy Uren; 1. Jake Woolmore, 2. Jake Kerr, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Dave Attwood, 5. Chris Vui (c), 6. Fitz Harding, 7. Ben Earl, 8. Nathan Hughes.

Subs: 16. Harry Thacker, 17. Yann Thomas, 18. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19. Ed Holmes, 20. Jake Heenan, 21. Tom Kessell, 22. Ioan Lloyd, 23. Siale Piutau.

Sale showing how they intend play - route 1 ball and kick chase, pressure the break down with double Curry. Bristol showing they want to secure ball by playing a more physical back row with no place for Dan Thomas and Luatua rested, expecting the physical with a lumpier side than normal and anticipating the high ball with 3 full backs on the pitch. At least we have a strong replacement prop in Nahuel this time, Jake Armstrong made scrums a real issue.

Can Bristol handle the pressure and in your face defence? Is Harry Thacker the same player after a long lay off? Can Sale keep 15 on the pitch?
A tough, physical math and should be close.

[Puja]

I would also have accepted "Thack is Back".

If you can score during one of the periods when Sale are down to 14, then I think you can win this one.

Puja

[Banquo]

Be good to see what Harding can do as a starter against a physical side.

[fivepointer]

Can't see there being much in this one. Discipline bound to play a key part. Fascinating battles throughout, notably at SH and in the back row.
Very good to see Thacker back and Manu on the bench.

[Mellsblue]

And the award for best thread title goes to.....

[Scrumhead]

If you can score during one of the periods when Sale are down to 14, then I think you can win this one.

Yes. This was my first thought too.

Should be an interesting game. Defence vs. Attack ... hopefully that makes for a good contest rather than cancelling each other out.

I’m looking forward to seeing the Curry twins working together and good to see Thacker and Tuilagi back too.

[Which Tyler]

If you can score during one of the periods when Sale are down to 14, then I think you can win this one.

Yes. This was my first thought too.

Should be an interesting game. Defence vs. Attack ... hopefully that makes for a good contest rather than cancelling each other out.

I’m looking forward to seeing the Curry twins working together and good to see Thacker and Tuilagi back too.

Just don't let them go down to 13 - because that's when they really start to pull together!

[Puja]

Entertainingly, Bristol were the side to get a yellow and it cost them dearly to the tune of 12 points.

Very enthralling game as both sides brought huge physicality in defence and worked incredibly hard. Sale look extremely dangerous going into the playoffs - they'll be a real danger to the Exeter Antivaxxers, especially with Manu looking as fit as a butchers' dog. On one occasion, Bristol had a 6m lineout and Sale stopped the drive, tackled them backwards from the pick and gos on the 5m line, and then tackled them back out of the 22 across about 12 phases.

The refereeing was the major disappointment of the night. Christophe Ridley had little control over the game, the offside line was not policed in the slightest (and Sale were blatantly offside on many occasions when they defended on their 5m as above, not just by a little, but by standing a full metre in front of the back foot) and the only high tackles policed was Semi Radradra's two in a row which resulted in a literal full six minutes of wanking about with the TMO while they decided whether the man that they had already yellow carded for his second offence, would have got a red, yellow, or penalty for his first offence, despite the latter two being utterly irrelevant as he had already been binned for an action later in the play. There was a short moment where it could have been red, but once that was ruled out, the rest was just torturing the very decent crowd.

Puja

[Beasties]

Sale frankly look bloody awesome now. Their defence in the first half was amazing and they kept it up right through the match. I'm exhausted just watching it. JL du Preez was by a mile MOM amd I haven't been a fan up to now. Sale have some quality youngsters easing into that team now, Quirke and Langdon being the most obvious, and then you really don't need to see a fit as a butchers dog Tuilagi coming on if you're an opposition struggling to cope. Hell of a match. I can't remember a 0-0 half time score as entertaining as that was.

[fivepointer]

Brutally hard, physical match. Really impressed with the way Sale soaked up the pressure in the 1st half and then established control in the 2nd. They were very good winners.
Nothing is a given for the play offs right now.

[Scrumhead]

Agreed. A lot of people were looking at a Bristol vs. Exeter final as a foregone conclusion which it most definitely isn’t.

Sale are actually my favourites for the title now. Manu and Ben Curry have come back at the perfect time to add to an already impressive side.

They have a tough run-in, but if Quins beat Bath today and the top 4 is secured, I wouldn’t be overly surprised if we rest players for our trip to the AJ Bell. Our squad is paper thin with Esterhuizen and Brown’a bans and Evans’ injury and we’re unlikely to get a home semi so we might as well save the likes of Smith and Care for the play offs.

Assuming that this happens, I’d say that’s another BP win for Sale which has them going in to the final game with Exeter with an opportunity of cementing a home semi and going in to the play-offs having beaten all three of the other play-off contenders.

[Doorzetbornandbred]

Even as a Brizzle fan that was a bloody entertaining game to watch! The intensity of it was off the chart.

[Beasties]

And they've still got de Jager, JP du Preez and Ross waiting in the wings. I'm starting to wonder if Alex Sanderson might just be a candidate for Eng in the future. Of all the Saracens mob he's always been the one who's struck me as being the best coach.

[Banquo]

And they've still got de Jager, JP du Preez and Ross waiting in the wings. I'm starting to wonder if Alex Sanderson might just be a candidate for Eng in the future. Of all the Saracens mob he's always been the one who's struck me as being the best coach.

Probably speaks afrikaans, it has to help.

[francoisfou]

And they've still got de Jager, JP du Preez and Ross waiting in the wings. I'm starting to wonder if Alex Sanderson might just be a candidate for Eng in the future. Of all the Saracens mob he's always been the one who's struck me as being the best coach.

Probably speaks afrikaans, it has to help.

He sounds a bit of a Boer to me.