Team: 15. Mike Haley, 14. Tom Arscott, 13. Johnny Leota, 12. Sam Tuitupou, 11. Mark Cueto, 10. Danny Cipriani, 9. Chris Cusiter, 1. Ross Harrison, 2. Tommy Taylor, 3. Vadim Cobilas, 4. Andrei Ostrikov, 5, Nathan Hines, 6. Dan Braid (capt.), 7. David Seymour, 8. Josh Beaumont
Replacements: 16. Marc Jones, 17. Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 18. Ciaran Parker, 19. Jonathan Mills, 20. Magnus Lund, 21. Will Cliff, 22. Joe Ford, 23. Tom Brady.
Speaking ahead of the game, Steve Diamond told BBC Sport: “The most crucial thing is what we’ve done in the last two games is not concede any tries. It’s not been a good hunting ground for us, we’ve not won there in four years – we’ve got to get a win and build and what we’ve done really. With the competitiveness of the league, we could conceivably win all four games and still finish seventh.”
Chris Cusiter spoke to the Manchester Evening News earlier this week and said: “It’s another big game for us and we want to keep the momentum. Dimes spoke to us in the week about the fact that London Irish has not been a happy hunting ground for Sale so that’s another incentive. There is pressure on us, but it’s the right sort of pressure and hopefully we can produce the performance we know we are capable of.”
