Sale v Leicester: Teams
Sale are waiting on the fitness of England winger Mark Cueto, while Leicester recall Aaron Mauger and Julian White.
Last Updated: 21/12/07 12:35pm
Sale are waiting on the fitness of England winger Mark Cueto ahead of the visit of Leicester to Edgeley Park.
Cueto, who scored the try that never was in the World Cup final against South Africa, has been struggling with a calf injury.
However, the Sharks have provincially named the prolific scorer in their squad, although Chris Mayor has been placed on standby should he fail a fitness test.
Edgeley Park is sold out for the clash - and director of rugby Philippe Saint Andre is looking for his side to put on a performance for the fans.
He said: "This is a big game for us, in front of a full house at Edgeley Park.
"We have been playing well over the past few weeks but Leicester is always a huge game for us and our biggest test so far this season.
"The players have prepared well all week and are ready for 2-45 on Sunday."
Leicester welcome two of their big guns back for the visit to Sale - with Aaron Mauger and Julian White both returning.
All Blacks centre Mauger and England and Lions prop White were on the bench for the Heineken Cup defeat to Toulouse. However, director of rugby Marcelo Loffreda opted to recall the pair to the starting XV.
Frustration
Luke Abraham is also rewarded with a starting spot as the Tigers look to bounce back.
Loffreda told the club's official site: "We have to finish with the frustration of losing in Toulouse and look forward to the next step, which is a tough match against Sale.
"The players have to close this door and look forward and focus only on Sale. I think this will be even more difficult than the EDF Energy Cup game, both teams want to be in the top four in the league and it is going to be really tough game. We have to encourage the team to make a real improvement.
Sale: 15 Julien Laharrague, 14 Oriol Ripol, 13 Luke McAlister, 12 Lee Thomas, 11 Rory Lamont, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 1 Andrew Sheridan, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 3 Eifion Roberts, 4 Dean Schofield, 5 Sean Cox, 6 Jason White (c), 7 Magnus Lund, 8 Sebastien Chabal.
Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Lionel Faure, 18 Stuart Turner, 19 Brent Cockbain, 20 Chris Jones, 21 Sililo Martens, 22 Mark Cueto.
Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Frank Murphy, 1 Marcos Ayerza, 2 George Chuter, 3 Julian White, 4 James Hamilton, 5 Ben Kay, 6 Tom Croft, 7 Luke Abraham, 8 Martin Corry (c).
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Martin Castrogiovanni, 18 Marco Wentzel, 19 Jordan Crane, 20 Christophe Laussucq, 21 Dan Hipkiss, 22 Sam Vesty.