Sale v London Irish: Teams

Sale will hand debuts to Rhys Crane and Asaeli Boko for the visit of London Irish in the LV= Cup on Friday.

Former Bath winger Rhys Crane has impressed turning out for the Jets - with a try against Newcastle on Monday - while Fiji international Boko scored in the same game so will start at No.8.

Rising stars Fergus Mulchrone and Rob Miller have also been handed starts, while the experienced Dwayne Peel returns from injury.

Welshman Ben Roberts, Daniel Hall and former Wigan Warriors starlet Iain Thornley are set to make their first team debuts off the bench.

"Boko really excites me, with the pace he puts on the ball. Some of these younger guys have taken the opportunity to impress with the Jets," said coach Mike Brewer.

"The LV= Cup will be significantly harder than what they've encountered in the 'A' League: let's see if they can take the next step up.

"We want to go as far as we can in this competition. We're aiming to be more consistent in the way we're playing and how we're performing. Friday will be a chance to turn the result around after Sunday."

London Irish have also handed starting debuts to a number of their rising stars -Marcus Watson, Marland Yarde and Guy Armitage named in the side.

Young Exiles Matt Garvey, Jonathan Joseph, Kieran Low and Sam Edgerley also start, with summer signing Darren Allinson handed his first start.

"We're looking forward to getting into the LV= Cup. As a squad we're right where we want to be competitively not least down to some outstanding performances from our young players," said London Irish coach Toby Booth.

"Moving into this tournament gives us the chance to bring fresh legs to the game and showcase the depth of talent we have."

Sale Sharks: 15 Paul Williams, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Chris Bell, 12 Fergus Mulchrone, 11 Rhys Crane, 10 Rob Miller, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Asaeli Boko, 7 Neil McMillan, 6 Chris Brightwell, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Chris Jones, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Lee Imiolek.
Replacements: 16 Ben Roberts, 17 Aston Croall, 18 Karena Wihongi , 19 Daniel Hall, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Will Cliff , 22 Matty James, 23 Iain Thornley.

London Irish: 15 Jamie Lennard, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Elvis Seveali'i (c), 12 Guy Armitage, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Chris Hala'ufia, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Kieran Roche, 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Gary Johnson, 3 James Tideswell, 2 David Paice, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Brian Blaney, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Paulica Ion, 19 Kieran Low, 20 David Sisi, 21 Jonathan Joseph, 22 Sam Edgerley, 23 Alfredo Lalanne.