Newcastle v Sale: Teams

At Kingston Park, Sunday September 7, KO 3pm

Last updated: 5th September 2008

Clegg: Premiership debut

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England Under-18s fly-half Rory Clegg will make his Guinness Premiership debut for Newcastle when the Falcons host Sale Sharks on Sunday.

With Jonny Wilkinson still recovering from a summer shoulder operation, the 18-year-old is given his chance in the starting XV at Kingston Park.

Director of rugby Steve Bates said: "Rory is an extremely talented player with a fantastic temperament, he has dealt very well with playing two full games for the first team in pre-season and we look forward to seeing him transfer that on to the Guinness Premiership stage on Sunday."

Alex Tait starts at full-back for the Falcons, while new signings Adam Balding and Spencer Davey are included at flanker and centre respectively.

Newcastle have a number of injury concerns, with Ed Williamson, Jon Golding, Ross Beattie and Danny Williams among those who miss out.

Sale must give fitness tests to two players before Philippe Saint Andre can confirm his 22-man squad.

Andrew Sheridan and Rory Lamont have been troubled by hamstring and arm injuries respectively and they will have checks on Saturday morning with a view to being among the replacements.

The Sharks are definitely without Sebastien Bruno as the Frenchman is sidelined by a knee injury.

Saint Andre said: "This will be a tough game for us. Kingston Park has never been a happy hunting ground for us, but we hope to end our poor record there on Sunday.

"We have had a good pre-season and we have had to upset a few players this weekend by not picking them. The 22 involved on Sunday know that we have a good squad this year and competition for places will be intense, so they need to perform well to hold onto their jersey."

Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Tom May, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Spencer Davey, 11 John Rudd, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 James Grindal, 1 Joe McDonnell, 2 Andy Long, 3 Carl Hayman, 4 Andy Buist, 5 Mark Sorenson, 6 Adam Balding, 7 Brent Wilson, 8 Phil Dowson (captain),

Replacements: 16 Matt Thompson, 17 Micky Ward, 18 Geoff Parling, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Hall Charlton, 21 Steve Jones, 22 Tim Visser

Sale: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Luke McAlister, 12 Lee Thomas, 11 David Doherty, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Dwayne Peel, 1 Lionel Faure, 2 Neil Briggs, 3 Eifion Roberts, 4 Chris Jones, 5 Dean Schofield, 6 Luke Abraham, 7 JM Fernandez Lobbe (captain), 8 Sebastien Chabal

Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Andrew Sheridan, 18 Brent Cockbain, 19 Sean Cox, 20 Richard Wigglesworth, 21 Chris Bell, 22 Rory Lamont