Sale v Leeds: Teams

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Sale director of rugby Kingsley Jones admits his side will need to improve if they are to stop Leeds at Edgeley Park.

Leeds arrive for the game on the back of encouraging wins over Wasps in the Premiership and Leicester in the LV= Cup.

And having seen Sale lose their Anglo-Welsh Cup opener 20-9 to Newport Gwent Dragons, Jones knows his side could be in for a difficult evening unless they raise their game.

"Leeds have had two very good results in their previous games with a well deserved and hard fought victory at Wasps away and last week beating Leicester at Headingley," said Jones.

"We are obviously very respectful of Leeds as they are starting to acclimatise well to the Guinness Premiership. We therefore need to be at our best and improve massively on our disappointing performance away at Dragons.

"We need to keep building on our home form after two good results against Gloucester and Cardiff Blues."

Jones has made ten changes to his line-up with seven new faces in the pack.

Academy

Sisa Koyamaibole, David Seymour, Kristian Ormsby, Chris Jones, Gavin Kerr, Neil Briggs and Rob O'Donnell all return for the Sharks, while Oriol Ripol, Mathew Tait and Chris Leck start in the backs.

Leeds have again turned to their thriving academy section for the match.

Director of rugby Andy Key has named 13 players from the youth section for the second week running - with Gareth Denman and Alex Ball coming into the squad.

Key said: "Having lost last week in their first game of the competition they will be keen to get off the mark, especially as they are at home.

"People have said that they are in a transition stage this season because of the players who have left them however the guys who have come in have been biding their time and will be keen to make the most of their opportunity.

"The fact that we play each other in the Guinness Premiership next week certainly adds a different dimension and I think both sets of coaches will be keeping their cards close to their chest ahead of that match."

Sale: 15 Nick Macleod, 14 Marika Vakacegu, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 David Bishop, 11 Oriol Ripol, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Chris Leck, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole 7 David Seymour, 6 Kristian Ormsby, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Chris Jones, 3 Gavin Kerr, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Rob O'Donnell.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Jack Forster, 18 Martin Halsall, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Ben Cohen, 23 Ed Styles

Leeds: 15 Jon Goodridge, 14 Luther Burrell, 13 Jonny Hepworth, 12 Henry Paul, 11 Scott Armstrong, 10 Joe Ford, 9 Scott Mathie, 8 Rhys Oakley, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Tom Denton, 5 Jon Pendlebury (c), 4 Alex Ball, 3 Pete Bucknall, 2 George Warner, 1 Gareth Denman.
Replacements: 16 Alex Moreno, 17 Mike MacDonald, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Richard Beck, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Dan White, 22 Jason Strange, 23 Peter Wackett.