Sale v Leeds: Teams
Winger Dafydd James will make his home debut for Sale Sharks when they host Leeds Carnegie in Guinness Premiership action.
By Rachel Griffiths
Last Updated: 18/02/10 5:18pm
Winger Dafydd James will make his home debut for Sale Sharks when they host Leeds Carnegie in Guinness Premiership action on Friday night.
The Welsh international made his first Sharks outing during their 22-16 defeat at Wasps last weekend and has been named in the starting XV once more for the Edgeley Park clash.
Gavin Kerr will start at prop against former club Carnegie, while lock James Gaskell has been ruled out with injury.
International duo Mathew Tait and Mark Cueto are also unavailable due to England commitments.
Important
With Sale having lost their last five encounters, director of rugby Kingsley Jones is in no doubt over the importance of the clash.
"Leeds will be hard to beat. They've got a good set piece and they're desperate for a win," said Jones.
"It's a game that a lot of things hinge on so we really need to improve our discipline in our game."
Meanwhile, Leeds will field an unchanged line-up for the first time this season as they make the short journey across the Pennines.
The entire 23-man squad that were chosen to take on Leicester last week have been retained as Leeds look to ascend from their place at the bottom of the standings.
Hooker Andy Titterell will be pitted against his former club after making 122 outings over seven seasons for the Sharks.
Sale: 15 Marika Vakacegu, 14 Dafydd James, 13 David Bishop, 12 Lee Thomas, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Dwayne Peel, 1 Gavin Kerr, 2 Neil Briggs, 3 Eifion Roberts, 4 Chris Jones, 5 Dean Schofield (c), 6 Kristian Ormsby, 7 Carl Fearns, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole.
Replacements: 16 Mahonri Schwalger 17 Rob O'Donnell 18 Martin Halsall 19 Sean Cox 20 David Seymour 21 Richard Wigglesworth 22 Ed Styles 23 Oriol Ripol.
Leeds: 15 Leigh Hinton, 14 Henry Fa'afili, 13 Seru Rabeni, 12 Scott Barrow, 11 Lee Blackett, 10 Ceiron Thomas, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 1 Mike MacDonald, 2 Andy Titterrell, 3 Juan Gomez, 4 Erik Lund, 5 Marco Wentzel (c), 6 Calum Clark, 7 Hendre Fourie, 8 Rhys Oakley.
Replacements: 16 Vili Ma'asi, 17 Gareth Hardy, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Alfie To'oala, 21 Scott Mathie, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Richard Welding.